TKe  HOME-MADE 
KINDERGARTEN 


Tiora  A,  Smith 


A  HOMEMADE  KINDERGARTEN. 

NELSON  THE  ADVENTURER.    With  frontispiece. 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  FUTURE. 

UNDER  THE  CACTUS  FLAG.     Illustrated. 

THREE  LITTLE  MARYS.     Illustrated. 


IN  COLLABORATION  WITH  MRS.  WIGGIN 

THE    STORY  HOUR.    A  Book  for  the  Home  and 

Kindergarten.     Illustrated. 

CHILDREN'S   RIGHTS.    A  Book  of  Nursery  Logic. 
THE  REPUBLIC  OF  CHILDHOOD. 

I.    FROEBEL'S  GIFTS. 
II.    FROEBEL'S  OCCUPATIONS. 
III.    KINDERGARTEN  PRINCIPLES  AND  PRAC- 
TICE. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON  AND  NBW  YORK 


THE  HOME-MADE 
KINDERGARTEN 


THE  HOME-MADE 
KINDERGARTEN 

BY  NORA  ARCHIBALD  SMITH 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK-*  THE 

RIVERSIDE     PRESS     CAMBRIDGE 

1912 


COPYRIGHT,   1912,  BY  MORA  ARCHIBALD  SMITH 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 

Published  March  iia 


CONTENTS 

I.  INTRODUCTION  I 

II.  OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY  15 

III.  INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY  40 

IV.  STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS  95 


241221 


THE  HOME-MADE 
KINDERGARTEN 


INTRODUCTION 

You  ask  me,  thoughtful  mothers,  — 
on  the  rolling  prairie,  the  far-off  rancho, 
the  rocky  island ;  in  the  lonely  lighthouse, 
the  frontier  settlement,  the  high-perched 
mining-camp,  —  you  ask  me  how  you, 
who  have  few  or  none  of  the  advantages 
that  modern  civilization  can  give,  may 
yet  have  one  of  its  greatest  —  the  kin- 
dergarten for  your  children. 

And  I  answer  that  since  the  kinder- 
garten is  not,  like  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
a  well-defined  spot,  within  certain  geo- 
graphical limits,  to  which  all  true  be- 
lievers must  repair;  since  it  is  not  abso- 
lutely dependent  upon  the  ministrations 
I 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

of  a  priestess  versed  in  the  faith;  since 
its  virtue  does  not  wholly  lie  in  the 
specially  devised  balls  and  blocks  and 
sticks  and  papers  which  it  uses;  since, 
finally,  it  is  a  philosophy,  not  a  system 
of  object-teaching,  its  essentials  may  be 
learned  by  any  one  of  hearing  ear  and 
understanding  heart. 

Those  who  think  of  the  kindergarten 
merely  as  a  suitable  means  of  instruction 
for  children  between  three  and  six  years 
forget  that  its  creator,  Friedrich  Froebel, 
laid  great  stress  upon  infant  education, 
and  called  upon  mothers  everywhere 
to  begin  their  half-playful,  half-earnest 
training  with  the  baby  in  the  cradle.  In 
the  mother,  far  removed  from  the  in- 
spiration and  companionship  of  other 
mothers,  out  of  the  reach  of  schools, 
deprived  of  the  aid  of  nurses  and  gov- 
ernesses, dependent  upon  herself  alone, 
her  instincts,  her  hopes,  and  her  ideals 
in  the  education  of  her  children,  he  would 


INTRODUCTION 

have  felt  the  greatest  interest;  to  her  he 
would  have  extended  his  warmest  sym- 
pathy, and  would  have  claimed,  I  believe, 
that  what  is  highest  and  best  in  the 
kindergarten  could  well  be  brought  to 
and  practiced  by  her.  After  all,  the  best 
teacher  is  he  who  gives  not  things  but 
thoughts,  not  facts  but  ideas,  not  rules 
of  conduct  but  ideals,  —  for  it  is  the 
"spirit  communicated"  which  is  "a 
perpetual  possession." 

If  once  we  understand  on  what  un- 
changed and  unchanging  laws  of  child- 
nature  Froebel  founded  his  philosophy 
of  education,  we  can  endeavor  to  apply 
them  to  our  own  conditions  and  to  carry 
them  out  with  such  materials  as  we  have 
at  hand. 

Let  us  see,  then,  what  are  the  founda- 
tion stones  on  which  the  kindergarten 
is  builded.  To  state  them  briefly  and 
simply,  they  are :  — 

Education  should  begin  at  birth. 
3 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

It  should  be  carried  on  by  means  of 
the  objects  and  playthings  which  sur- 
round the  child,  and  with  which  nature 
so  liberally  provides  him,  and  should  pre- 
sent these  as  a  kind  of  alphabet  with 
which,  by  and  by,  he  may  spell  out  the 
world. 

It  should  be  threefold,  addressing 
itself  to  body,  mind,  and  soul. 

It  should  lead,  even  in  the  smallest 
things,  to  expression  of  the  child's  real 
self,  of  his  own  individuality;  and  from 
imitation  and  the  following  of  sugges- 
tion, should  proceed  to  invention  or 
creation. 

It  should  bring  the  child,  at  last,  to 
a  reverent  appreciation  of  nature  and  a 
wholesome  interest  in  everything  that 
grows  and  blooms  and  moves  and 
breathes  and  shines,  or  stands  unchang- 
ing, like  the  rocks  and  hills. 

It  should  also  equip  him  with  the  abil- 
ity to  work  with  and  comprehend  his  fel- 
4 


INTRODUCTION 

lows,  to  understand  the  value  of  cooper- 
ation; and  here  comes  in  one  drawback 
for  the  lonely  mother,  for  she  cannot, 
alas  Tsupply  her  child  with  the  compan- 
ionship of  other  little  people  of  suitable 
age.  She  can  give  him  her  own,  when- 
ever it  is  possible,  and  plan  that  his 
father,  no  matter  how  busy  he  may  be, 
shall  grant  an  hour  now  and  then;  but 
the  society  of  persons  of  another  age  and 
other  interests,  no  matter  how  childlike 
in  spirit  they  may  be,  is  obviously  not  the 
same  as  that  of  one's  fellows ;  and  while 
it  offers  some  advantages,  renders  others 
impossible.  As  an  only  child,  however, 
even  in  America,  is  more  or  less  rare,  let 
us  hope  that  the  work  and  play,  both 
indoors  and  out,  which  this  series  of 
papers  is  to  consider,  may  be  shared  by 
two  or  three  children,  at  least. 
*  The  papers  will  not  be  concerned,  pri- 
marily, with  the  objects  known  as  the 
Gifts  and  Occupations  which  Froebel 
5 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

devised  for  the  kindergarten.  These 
may  not  be  accessible  to  women  who  are 
out  of  the  reach  of  shops,  schools,  teach- 
ers and  educational  publishers;  and  they 
also  depend  for  their  value  largely  upon 
the  way  in  which  they  are  used,  upon  the 
suggestion  and  inspiration  of  a  kinder- 
gartner  whose  professional  training  ren- 
ders or  should  render  her  capable  of  doing 
work  which  is  out  of  the  question  for  a 
busy  mother,  had  she  as  many  heads  as 
a  hydra  and  as  many  hands  as  Briareus 
himself. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that 
these  Gifts  and  Occupations  were,  after 
all,  wrought  out  by  Froebel  from  a  care- 
ful observation  of  the  playing  child; 
that  they  are  largely  based  upon  the 
traditional  employments  of  childhood 
and  the  race;  and  that  their  materials, 
for  the  most  part,  are  such  as  are  to  be 
found  in  every  household,  their  novelty 
and  great  value  lying  chiefly  in  the  ideas 
6 


INTRODUCTION 

upon  which  they  are  based.  They  are, 
then,  briefly:  worsted  balls  of  the  six 
primary  colors  (red,  yellow,  blue,  green, 
orange,  violet);  next,  wooden  spheres, 
cubes,  and  cylinders  made  to  revolve  on 
their  different  axes,  showing  other  geo- 
metrical forms  whirling  within;  then, 
variously  divided  wooden  cubes  for 
building;  then,  pasteboard  and  wooden 
tablets  in  geometrical  forms;  and  finally, 
wooden  sticks,  metal  rings,  and  seeds  of 
various  kinds  for  laying  pictures  and 
designs  upon  the  table.  These  are  the 
Gifts  (so-called) ;  the  Occupations  being 
perforating  or  pricking,  sewing,  draw- 
ing and  painting,  weaving,  cutting  and 
folding  of  paper,  and  modeling  in  sand 
and  clay.  By  their  use  the  child  gains 
a  thorough  practical  knowledge  of  color, 
form,  position,  and  direction;  he  learns 
much  of  simple  geometry  (plane  and 
solid),  and  of  the  foundation  processes 
of  arithmetic;  he  becomes  more  or  less 
7 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

expert  in  the  use  of  his  hands,  in  com- 
bination of  colors  and  materials,  in 
drawing  and  designing;  and  by  dint  of 
all  these  things  begins  to  know  him- 
self, and  to  show  to  others  something  of 
his  own  individuality,  of  his  particular 
worth  and  value  as  a  human  being. 

This  is  by  no  means  all  of  the  kinder- 
garten, nor  is  it  the  most  valuable  part, 
in  my  opinion.  Gardening,  the  care  of 
animals,  songs,  games  and  music,  co- 
operative work,  story-telling  in  prose 
and  poetry,  religious  training,  —  all 
these  have  their  place  in  this  marvelous 
system  of  child  education,  upon  which 
volumes  have  been  and  are  daily  being 
written.  You  see,  however,  that  in  the 
kindergarten  playthings  and  work  ma- 
terials, as  such,  no  particular  value 
lies ;  it  is  the  way  in  which  they  are  used, 
the  ideas  on  which  they  are  based  that 
makes  them  worthy  of  reverent  consid- 
eration. 

8 


INTRODUCTION 

There  is  no  household,  howsoever 
bare  and  ill-equipped,  which  this  little 
book  will  enter,  but  has  materials  for 
sewing,  paper  for  cutting  and  folding 
and  drawing  and  painting,  pasteboard 
for  cutting  into  varied  forms,  sand,  clay, 
wax,  or  putty  for  modeling,  balls  for 
tossing  and  bouncing  and  swinging, 
wood  for  block-building  and  stick-laying, 
and  beans,  coffee-berries  or  lentils  for 
outlining  pictures,  and  designing,  and  be 
assured,  if  these  things,  and  many  others 
which  I  shall  suggest,  are  used  in  the 
kindergarten  spirit  and  with  regard  to 
the  principles 'already  outlined,  their 
value  will  be  very  great,  although  they 
do  not  of  themselves  make  a  kinder- 
garten. 

Best  of  all,  no  man  or  woman  will  even 
attempt  to  read  this  booklet  who  has 
not  something,  however  undeveloped,  of 
the  seeing  eye  and  understanding  heart, 
who  is  not  to  some  extent  interested  in 
9 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

the  early  training  of  little  children,  and 
with  real  interest  in  any  subject  and  an 
equal  desire  to  succeed,  the  key-word 
which  opens  the  magic  door  of  the  treas- 
ure-chamber is  easily  found. 

We  should  remember  in  the  beginning 
that  all  the  occupations  we  are  to  discuss 
will  necessitate  at  first  frequent  help  and 
suggestion  from  the  parent  or  older  play- 
mate, but  that  —  and  this  is  an  absolute 
test  of  our  success  as  teachers  —  this  help 
should  be  needed  less  frequently  as  time 
goes  on,  and  by  and  by  should  seldom  be 
required  at  all. 

It  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  it  is 
of  little  use  to  suggest  one  definite  thing 
which  children  may  do,  on  the  comple- 
tion of  which  they  will  run  to  us  for  an- 
other hint,  but  that  we  should  rather 
try  to  give  them  ideas  which  can  be 
gradually  and  progressively  worked  out. 

We  must  count  in  the  beginning,  too, 
on  a  certain  fickleness  in  children, — 
10 


INTRODUCTION 

that  is,  that  their  interest  will  not  be 
long  centred  on  any  one  thing  or  employ- 
ment. To  desert  it  temporarily,  however, 
is  not  to  desert  it  altogether;  and  when 
they  tire  for  the  time  of  balls  or  blocks 
or  drawing  or  modeling,  the  despised 
materials  may  be  put  away  and  will  be 
eagerly  sought  for  on  another  occasion. 

We  should  see  to  it  also  that  the  per- 
manent products  of  the  children's  work, 
their  sketches,  foldings,  cuttings,  their 
modeled  figures,  their  collections  of 
whatever  kind,  be  not  treated  carelessly 
either  by  them  or  by  us,  be  not  destroyed 
or  ruthlessly  "cleared  up,"  but  set  in 
some  given  spot  and  used  for  some  defi- 
nite purpose.  To  this  end  it  is  well  to 
accustom  children  to  criticize  their  work 
and  to  be  willing  to  keep  only  that  which 
is  really  successful,  according  to  their 
powers. 

One  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  child- 
ren, most  frequently  disregarded,  is  that 
II 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

they  have  no  recognized  spot  where  they 
can  keep  their  own  possessions.  True, 
they  have  a  special  bed,  a  certain  seat 
at  table,  drawers  and  closets  where  their 
clothing  is  kept;  but  all  these  things 
are  but  externals,  things  with  which 
grown  people  are  chiefly  concerned. 
They  need  a  case  for  their  own  books,  a 
box  for  their  own  toys,  a  shelf  for  their 
own  collections,  books  for  their  stamps 
and  post-cards,  a  place  for  their  own 
work;  and  to  grant  these  things  is  not 
only  to  make  them  careful  and  respon- 
sible and  orderly,  but  to  satisfy  their 
desire  for  possession,  and  by  satisfying 
it,  make  them  the  more  willing  to  be 
generous.  It  is  not  by  depriving  man  of 
goods  that  we  teach  him  to  share  them 
with  others,  but  by  bestowing  them  in 
fullest  measure  and  letting  him  learn  in 
their  use  that  they  are  never  so  fully  his 
own  as  when  he  can  lend  and  give  them. 
"Unless,"  as  an  unknown  somebody  has 

12 


INTRODUCTION 

wisely  said,  —  "unless  there  is  sympa- 
thy in  pleasures  and  employments;  un- 
less there  is  full  recognition  of  a  child's 
right  to  freedom,  to  space,  to  ownership, 
to  exercise  the  right  of  hospitality,  the 
rift  in  the  lute  appears  and  discord  be- 
gins to  be  heard  in  the  household  where 
God  meant  there  should  be  perfect  har- 
mony." 

Here  are  a  good  many  preliminary 
thoughts,  perhaps,  before  beginning  on 
the  practical  suggestions  for  employ- 
ment which  the  busy  mother  is  anxiously 
awaiting;  but  no  suggestions  are  of  any 
value  unless  carried  out  according  to 
certain  immutable  educational  laws;  for 
if  you  do  not  thoroughly  understand  the 
rule  by  which  a  given  problem  is  worked 
out  you  are  left  helplessly  confronting 
other  similar  problems  which  may  come 
up  at  any  moment.  The  clock  will  tick 
only  once  or  twice  each  time,  no  matter 
how  often  you  shake  it;  but  if  you  know 
13 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

how  to  wind  it  up,  it  will  go  cheerfully 
on  for  long  hours  while  you  occupy  your- 
self with  something  else.  The  proof, 
then,  of  whether  or  not  we  know  how  to 
wind  these  little  human  clocks  will  lie  in 
their  behavior,  and  that  we  must  watch 
while  they  are  intent  upon  that  play 
which  is  the  proper  business  of  child- 
hood. 


II 

OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

THE  mother  whose  lines  have  fallen 
outside  the  wilderness  of  brick  and  stone 
we  call  a  town  is,  after  all,  rather  to  be 
envied  than  pitied,  for  the  little  child 
who  can  have  free  run  of  nature's  garden 
has  absolutely  all  that  he  needs  for  edu- 
cation. "One  day  we  shall  believe,"  says 
a  great  German  teacher,  "that  all  we 
truly  know  —  the  stuff  of  all  real  know- 
ledge—  we  learn  from  her;  all  the  rest  is 
but  hearsay,  rote-knowledge." 

Let  the  little  one,  then,  begin  his  les- 
sons as  early  as  may  be,  —  begin  to  feel 
and  see  and  touch  and  listen  and  love 
and  wonder.  A  baby  in  a  grass-plot  or  a 
sand-heap,  with  only  a  dog  for  company, 
—  or  with  no  company  at  all,  for  that 
IS 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

matter,  —  will  roll  placidly  about,  or  sit 
in  contemplation  twice  as  long  as  he 
would  in  the  dull  and  unchanging  house, 
for  the  scene  is  ever  new  in  nature's  gar- 
den. The  older  children  should  first 
make  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
familiar  features  of  the  ground  about 
them  as  a  preliminary  to  the  study  of 
book  rgeography, — with  the  hills  or 
mountains,  the  valleys  and  plains,  the 
watercourses,  the  ponds  and  lakes,  the 
coast-line  and  cliffs ;  and  these  may  profit- 
ably be  reproduced  in  the  sand-pile,  and 
later  given  permanent  form  in  rude 
maps.  At  night  the  stars  may  be  studied 
in  a  simple  way,  for  even  an  ordinary 
dictionary  gives  some  information  in 
regard  to  the  names  and  characteristics 
of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  adds  an 
explanation  of  these  names  and  their 
mythological  derivation. 

One  of  the  best  means  of  interesting 
children  in  the  changing  seasons,  the 
16 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

varying  weather  and  the  life  about  them, 
is  to  have  a  family  "year-book"  or 
"calendar,"  which  may  either  be  a  stout 
blank-book,  an  old  ledger,  or  a  sufficient 
number  of  leaves  of  smooth  brown  paper 
stitched  together.  To  this  all  the  child- 
ren may  contribute,  the  one  who  has 
attained  the  dignity  of  scribe  setting 
down  the  day,  month,  and  year  at  the 
head  of  each  page,  and  perhaps  ruling 
off  the  divisions  in  which  the  facts  are 
to  be  recorded.  The  title  of  this  volume 
may  perhaps  be 

Year-book  of  the  Johnson  Family 
and  on  January  I,  1912,  would  be  en- 
tered under  "Weather"  a  yellow  circle, 
which  the  baby  might  paste  on,  or  draw 
with  crayon,  indicating  sunshine  and 
bright  skies.  A  gray  circle  might  be  used 
for  a  day  of  cloud  or  fog  and  a  black  one 
indicate  storms,  while  gilt  paper  pasted 
in  the  proper  place  would  show  the  even- 
ing star  and  the  changing  moon.  An 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

examination  of  the  thermometer  will 
give  the  temperature  at  breakfast  and 
supper-time  each  day,  and  no  infant  sci- 
entist but  would  delight  in  setting  an 
old  tin  pan  in  an  open  space,  —  pro- 
tecting it  from  the  thirst  of  roaming  ani- 
mals, —  and  measuring  the  rainfall,  for 
record  in  the  famous  book. 

From  noting  rain,  sunshine,  snow, 
frost,  and  the  direction  of  the  wind,  we 
pass  to  living  things,  and  record  the  birds 
seen  each  day  and  the  fish  and  wild  ani- 
mals also,  if  we  are  so  happy  as  to  be  able 
to  espy  them.  At  last,  as  the  weeks  go 
on,  some  one  is  so  fortunate  as  to  be  the 
earliest  to  chronicle  the  first  patch  of 
bare  ground,  the  first  pussy  willow,  the 
first  robin,  or  the  first  dandelion. 

These  year-books,  which  would  natu- 
rally be  varied  to  suit  the  home-scene 
of  each  family,  are  at  first  exceedingly 
simple,  but  later,  as  the  children  learn 
to  use  their  eyes  and  are  more  skillful 
18 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

in  the  use  of  their  hands,  may  contain 
pressed  leaves  and  flowers,  or  pictures 
of  them,  a  feather  dropped  from  a  mi- 
grating bird,  perhaps,  or  the  sketch  of 
a  snow  crystal. 

If  the  mother  begins  these  year- 
books wisely  with  the  little  people,  they 
will  in  time  be  carried  on  without  assist- 
ance, and  she  will  see  with  delight  as  the 
months  go  by  that  her  children  are  cul- 
tivating those  powers  of  observation  on 
which  all  learning  rests. 

A  certain  father  of  my  acquaintance 
has  devised  for  himself  an  admirable 
method  both  of  cultivating  the  power  of 
observation  in  his  children  and  of  keep- 
ing tally  of  the  growth  of  that  power. 
Once  a  week  or  so,  he  takes  a  long  walk 
with  the  little  people  and  carries  a  note- 
book in  which  he  jots  down  at  their  dic- 
tation every  living  thing  seen  by  each 
child  on  the  excursion.  The  game  is 
called  "Sharp  Eyes,"  and  the  winner, 

19 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

whom  not  even  an  ant  has  escaped,  has 
good  reason  to  be  triumphant.  Such  a 
game  is  of  especial  value  to  the  dreamy, 
unobservant  child,  and  would  be  useful 
to  many  a  grown  person. 

Half-grown  boys  and  girls,  too,  would 
be  delighted  to  play  at  "Scouting,"  it 
being  understood  that  a  scout  is  always 
a  special  person,  selected  for  his  special 
qualifications,  and  that  he  is  supposed 
to  be  unusually  active,  intelligent,  and 
trustworthy.  The  commanding  officer, 
peacefully  seated  under  a  tree  mean- 
while, sends  out  such  a  child  scout  to 
bring  him  a  full  report  of  the  country  up 
to  a  given  point,  stating  the  condition  of 
the  roads,  fences,  and  bridges;  giving  a 
description  of  the  rocks  or  trees  behind 
which  the  enemy  might  take  shelter; 
noting  the  presence  of  any  figures  in  the 
distance,  —  dust  rising  or  birds  flying, — 
the  foot-marks,  wheel-marks,  hoof-prints 
in  the  road,  etc.,  etc.,  or  the  presence  of 
20 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

any  object  by  the  wayside  which  would 
indicate  that  the  foe  had  passed  by. 

If  it  is  explained  that  the  expedition 
is  a  dangerous  one,  necessitating  great 
care  and  discretion  on  the  part  of  the  re- 
cruit, and  if  it  is  suggested  that  it  will 
perhaps  be  well  to  make  certain  marks 
to  guard  against  losing  his  way  on  re- 
turn, by  breaking  small  branches,  piling 
up  stones,  "blazing"  trees,  scratching 
fence-posts,  etc.,  the  excitement  will  be 
great  and  the  game  delightful,  as  well  as 
preeminently  useful. 

When  walks  and  excursions  are  not  in 
order,  gardening  is  always  to  be  done  in 
the  proper  season;  and  here  one  might 
suggest  that  it  is  best  to  carry  on  some 
little  supervision  of  the  children's  out- 
door work  and  play,  and  not  to  allow 
them  to  do  any  one  thing  so  long  and 
with  such  ardor  that  they  become  thor- 
oughly wearied.  An  occupation  to  be 
really  enjoyed  by  children  should  be 

21 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

taken  up  for  brief  periods  only,  accord- 
ing to  age;  and  for  this  reason  it  is  wise 
to  plan  their  days  carefully,  to  allot  one 
hour  for  rest,  one  for  active  play,  and 
another  for  some  quiet  occupation,  al- 
ways reserving  the  period  just  before 
bedtime,  if  possible,  for  a  talk  with 
mother  and  a  sharing  with  her  of  all  the 
day's  experiences. 

As  to  gardening,  it  goes  without  say- 
ing that  every  child  should  have  a  plot 
of  his  own,  where  he  can  raise  the  hard- 
ier flowers  and  vegetables  separately, 
or  in  wild  confusion,  according  to  his 
fancy.  Froebel  has  many  wise  things  to 
say  on  the  value  to  children  of  working 
in  the  ground,  and  of  learning,  at  first 
hand,  the  lessons  that  the  plant  world 
is  ever  ready  to  teach;  and  this  is  one 
essential  of  the  kindergarten,  often  de- 
nied to  city  prisoners,  which  the  mothers 
whose  needs  we  are  considering  can 
easily  give  their  children.  If  there  are 
22 , 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

older  boys  in  the  family  they  can  make 
garden  tools  for  the  babies ;  a  fairly  sat- 
isfactory hoe  blade  being  developed  from 
a  tin  cracker  box,  and  the  essential  part 
of  a  rake  from  a  stick,  with  a  row  of  nails 
driven  in.  The  larger  children  must  have 
tools  of  their  own,  or  old  ones  cut  down; 
and  it  is  wonderful  to  see  the  pleasure 
they  will  take  in  clearing  the  ground  of 
weeds,  removing  rubbish,  and  digging 
up  the  soil.  Each  child  must  decide  what 
he  shall  put  in  his  own  plot,  and  be  re- 
sponsible for  it,  else  there  will  be  no 
development  of  individuality;  but  it  is 
well  also  to  have  a  "group-bed,"  to  which 
all  may  contribute.  Advice  will  be 
needed  from  older  persons  as  to  the  suit- 
ability of  the  soil  to  the  proposed  pro- 
ducts, and  very  likely  father  will  have  to 
give  a  more  thorough  digging  and  decide 
on  what  fertilizers  are  needed.  It  is  well 
to  lead  the  children,  at  first,  to  flowers 
and  vegetables  of  strong  and  courageous 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

habit,  which  insist  upon  coming  up  in 
spite  of  all  difficulties,  such  as  scarlet 
runners,  sunflowers,  lettuce,  and  rad- 
ishes. No  little  child  becomes  a  gardener 
in  the  face  of  too  great  difficulties,  and 
he  requires  to  see  the  fruit  of  his  labors 
in  a  fairly  brief  time  to  gain  courage  to 
go  on.  A  garden  gives  some  occupation 
for  every  day  throughout  the  season,  for 
when  there  is  no  digging,  making  of  beds, 
or  planting,  there  is  weeding,  watering, 
training,  and  finally  the  collecting  of 
seeds  in  packets,  labeling  and  storing 
them  for  next  year.  It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered here  that  a  garden  ill-prepared, 
ill-planted,  ill-kept,  neglected,  is  a  thou- 
sand times  worse  than  no  garden  at  all ;  we 
must  have  parental  supervision  in  this, 
as  in  everything;  for  the  child  is  only 
a  learner  and  a  very  little  one,  and  must 
begin  in  time  to  spell  out  the  lesson  that 

"  Tasks  in  hours  of  insight  willed 
Must  be  in  hours  of  gloom  fulfilled." 

24 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

Not  only  in  planting  will  the  child 
take  pleasure,  but  in  transplanting.  On 
some  of  his  walks  he  will  delight  to  take 
a  basket,  and  bring  home  a  fern,  a  way- 
side lily,  a  root  of  goldenrod,  or  wood- 
bine, and,  under  advice,  select  the  pro- 
per spot  for  it,  set  it  out,  and  tend  it. 
Such  a  wild  garden  in  time  becomes  a 
delight  to  the  family,  and  a  delight  at- 
tended with  no  expenses  and  no  draw- 
backs. 

Then  there  is  the  gathering  and  press- 
ing of  the  leaves  and  wild  flowers  of  the 
neighborhood  to  make  a  collection.  A 
press  may  be  made  of  two  pieces  of 
smooth  board,  eight  by  twelve  inches  in 
size,  and  perhaps  half  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness, to  the  middle  of  each  side  of  which 
is  tacked  a  piece  of  leather  through 
which  a  strap  is  passed.  This  may  be 
buckled  tight  to  hold  the  specimens 
properly  and  the  end  left  long  enough  to 
go  over  the  shoulder  and  buckle  again, 
25 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

carrying  the  press  like  a  knapsack.  Each 
small  botanist  must  have  his  own  press, 
which  he  can  make  himself,  for  wood  is 
plenty  everywhere,  and  leather  in  the 
form  of  old  shoes,  at  least,  can  always 
be  cut  into  strips  and  sewed  for  straps. 
Each  botanist  goes  on  his  walks,  of 
course,  with  a  number  of  sheets  of  white 
wrapping-paper,  or  soft  brown  paper  cut 
to  the  proper  size,  in  his  press;  for  the 
specimens  must  not  be  taken  from  the 
page  on  reaching  home,  but  labeled  with 
the  familiar  name,  the  date,  and  where 
found,  and  transferred  to  another  press 
or  an  old  book.  Each  child  may  have  his 
own  "leaf-book"  or  "flower-book"  of 
the  district,  or  all  combine  in  making 
one,  as  seems  best. 

Children  have  a  passion  for  collecting, 
which  is  of  the  greatest  possible  service 
as  an  occupation  and  an  equal  source  of 
annoyance  to  the  family,  unless  they  are 
provided  with  a  proper  place  to  keep 
26 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

their  specimens.  If  the  mother  will  once 
show  them  how  to  make  paper  boxes  or 
remodel  pasteboard  ones  for  shells,  peb- 
bles," seeds,  and  nuts,  how  to  arrange 
rude  shelves  for  rocks,  presses  for  leaves, 
flowers,  and  sea-moss,  etc.,  and  set  apart 
a  certain  room  or  certain  cupboards 
where  these  specimens  may  be  safely 
kept,  displayed,  and  admired,  she  will 
by  a  few  hours'  work  arrange  for  herself 
in  the  future  long  intervals  of  leisure  for 
something  else. 

Desirable  objects  to  collect,  either  for 
pure  joy  in  beauty  or  for  future  use,  are 
leaves,  flowers,  ferns,  shells,  burrs,  sea- 
moss,  seeds  of  every  possible  size  and 
kind,  acorn-cups,  small  stones  and  bright 
pebbles,  twigs,  haws,  thorn-apples,  nests 
(last  season's,  of  course),  nuts,  pods, 
maple-wings,  cones,  straws  and  reeds 
that  can  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  if  there  be 
anything  else  "collectable"  in  the  dis- 
trict, and  not  protected  by  the  laws  of 
27 


THE   HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

property,  by  all  means  let  it  be  gathered 
in,  for  sooner  or  later  it  will  be  hailed 
with  delight  as  a  fascinating  adjunct  to 
play. 

The  children  of  a  certain  village  in 
New  York  were  encouraged  one  autumn 
to  gather  seeds  and  divide  them  into 
classes  as  indicated  by  the  means  of 
travel  that  nature  had  provided.  Some 
seeds,  for  instance,  travel  by  means  of 
a  balloon;  others  catch  on  to  passing 
objects,  clothing,  hair  of  animals,  like 
tramps  upon  a  passing  freight  train;  and 
some  have  rudders  to  guide  them  through 
the  air.  One  of  the  boys  felt  himself  a 
profound  investigator  when  he  discov- 
ered the  advantage  that  some  seeds  have 
because  they  can  float  and  take  a  ride  on 
the  water.  Two  men  were  heard  by 
them  discussing  the  wonderful  vitality 
of  weed  seeds  found  in  soil  taken  from 
a  well  twelve  feet  deep,  asserting  that 
after  the  clay  from  the  bottom  had  re- 
28  ' 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

mained  exposed  to  the  action  of  weather 
for  a  year  or  so,  the  growth  of  a  few  weeds 
followed.  The  children  of  this  village, 
after  their  investigations,  were  able  to 
tell  the  men  very  promptly  where  the 
seeds  of  the  weeds  came  from. 

It  is  to  be  understood,  however,  that 
live  things,  as  snails,  beetles,  grass- 
hoppers, butterflies,  moths,  angleworms, 
toads,  and  frogs,  are  not  to  be  "  collected  " 
and  brought  home  unless  under  excep- 
tional conditions  and  to  accommoda- 
tions previously  arranged.  Nor  should 
we  ever  allow  a  child  to  collect  anything 
merely  to  throw  it  away.  If  he  does  not 
wish  to  store  it  properly  for  future  use, 
or  to  give  it  away,  he  must  not  touch  it 
at  all;  and  it  must  be  early  understood 
that  the  best  way  to  admire  a  flower,  if 
one  does  not  need  a  specimen,  is  to  sit 
down  and  watch  it  as  it  grows,  and  that 
to  pluck  it  up  by  the  roots  is  to  exter- 
minate it  altogether. 
29 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

If  the  day  is  very  warm  and  one  wishes 
to  suggest  a  quiet  play,  the  making  of 
flower  necklaces  is  especially  charming 
to  children;  and  if  coarse  needles  and 
thread  be  provided  they  will  busy  them- 
selves the  entire  morning  with  string- 
ing clover-heads,  bittersweet,  lilacs,  or 
daisies,  or  in  making  dandelion  curls 
and  chains  with  which  they  can  proudly 
decorate  themselves  and  their  parents. 
Teaching  them  to  make  wreaths  and 
garlands,  too,  of  leaves  and  flowers,  is 
useful  and  delightful;  and  so  is  the  mak- 
ing of  dolls  out  of  poppy  seed-cups  or 
round-headed  radishes  set  on  a  stick  and 
dressed  in  leaves  tied  about  the  waist 
with  grasses.  If  once  the  suggestion  is 
given,  the  children  develop  great  skill 
in  fashioning  dolls  from  seeds,  flowers, 
and  vegetables,  —  even  from  corn-cobs 
dressed  in  husks,  the  silk  cleverly  ar- 
ranged for  hair,  —  and  when  such  a 
company  sits  down  to  a  rustic  feast  of 
30 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

hollyhock  cheeses  set  on  acorn  plates, 
the  joy  is  great  indeed. 

Playing  in  the  water  is  a  natural  de- 
light of  children,  which  is  granted  them  all 
too  seldom,  owing  not  so  much  to  fear 
on  the  part  of  the  mother  for  their  bodily 
welfare  as  to  anxiety  about  clothes  and 
shoes.  Here  a  shallow  friendly  brook, 
which  is  better  for  a  child  than  all  the 
books  that  ever  were  written,  or  a  gentle 
sandy  beach  with  a  happy  sea  basking 
before  it,  are  ideal  places  for  play;  and  if 
we  allow  bare  feet  and  one  short  garment, 
be  it  woolen  frock  or  trousers,  the  water- 
sprite  may  splash  to  his  heart's  content. 
Sailing  boats  —  home-made,  of  course  — 
is  a  joy  under  such  circumstances,  for 
they  can  always  be  run  after  and  caught 
when  necessary,  with  no  fear  of  wet  feet. 
Such  craft  should  by  all  means  be  hand- 
made, developing  from  a  chip,  with  a 
paper  sail  pinned  around  a  stick,  to  a 
real  boat  hewn  out  with  a  jack-knife. 
31 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

The  child  who  lives  with  domestic 
animals  about  him  —  cats,  dogs,  fowl, 
rabbits,  doves,  bees,  cows,  oxen,  sheep, 
and  horses  —  has  another  essential  of 
life  on  which  Froebel  insisted.  He  bids 
the  mother  take  her  child  to  see  the  pig- 
eons, the  lambs,  the  hen  with  her  chick- 
ens, and  begin  to  appreciate  mother-love 
and  care,  and  he  also  advises  that  child- 
ren assume  responsibility  for  some  ani- 
mal and  see  for  themselves  that  it  is  fed, 
watered,  and  protected.  When  we  begin 
to  play  the  part  of  Providence  to  any 
creature,  he  says,  we  feel  insensibly  our 
own  dependence  upon  our  Creator,  and 
so  is  born  the  feeling  of  reverence,  —  as 
necessary  to  the  child  as  dew  to  the 
flower. 

The  country  child  has,  too,  an  oppor- 
tunity to  study  toads  and  frogs,  ants, 
spiders,  lizards,  newts,  snails,  bats,  and 
earthworms,  or  starfish,  sea  anemones, 
crayfish,  and  crabs,  under  their  natural 
32 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

conditions  and  without  injury  to  them. 
So  he  learns  to  value  and  appreciate 
them;  he  learns  to  see  and  hear;  every- 
thing interests  him  and  awakes  in  him 
eager  thought  and  feeling;  so  the  love  of 
nature  is  planted  deep  and  grows  like 
the  swelling  seeds. 

No  matter  where  he  lives,  too,  even 
on  a  rocky  islet  in  a  bleak  sea,  he  can 
begin  to  know  and  love  the  birds,  and 
thus  not  only  gain  present  pleasure,  but 
provide  a  delight  for  his  maturity  and 
old  age.  He  should  be  taught  to  clear 
a  place  of  snow  in  winter  and  scatter 
crumbs  and  seeds  there  every  morning; 
he  should  fasten  a  piece  of  suet  to  a  tree 
and  watch  the  delight  of  the  meat  eaters 
among  the  feathered  flock;  in  summer  he 
may  learn  to  make  bird-houses,  even  a 
tin  can  nailed  to  a  tree,  the  top  bent 
down  for  a  doorstep,  being  a  shelter  not 
to  be  despised.  With  these  little  atten- 
tions to  their  comfort  the  birds  will  mul- 
33 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

tiply,  and  not  only  increase  the  joys 
of  summer,  but  by  their  destruction  of 
insect  life,  sensibly  add  to  comfort  and 
prosperity. 

When  we  wish  the  children  to  play 
near  the  house  we  shall  find  that  a  pile  of 
large  blocks  and  sticks  of  wood  is  very 
useful  and  absorbing,  sticks  from  the 
wood-pile,  of  course,  being  too  short  and 
irregular  for  proper  edifices.  The  babies 
take  great  pleasure  in  sticks  two  feet 
long  and  two  inches  thick,  perhaps,  and 
seem  to  delight  in  carrying  them  about 
from  one  place  to  another,  either  in  their 
arms,  or  in  little  carts.  Older  children 
need  larger  materials;  and  if  by  any 
means  they  can  make  a  "house"  large 
enough  to  get  into,  the  pleasure  is  intense 
and  never-to-be-forgotten. 

Children  should  be  provided  with  real 

tools,  too,  as  soon  as  may  be,  and  make 

their  own  boxes,  boats,  bird-houses,  and 

what-not.   No  doubt  the  use  of  tools  is 

34 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

attended  with  some  danger,  but  the 
boys,  at  least,  are  certain  to  get  hold  of 
them  sooner  or  later,  and  their  own  im- 
plements are  likely  to  be  more  suitable 
in  size  and  less  keen-edged  than  their 
father's,  — less  keen-edged  than  his  tem- 
per, too,  when  he  finds  out  what  his 
precious  set  has  been  used  for. 

There  is  no  better  way  for  the  busy 
mother  to  provide  time  for  her  other 
duties  than  to  have  a  load  of  sand 
brought  to  her  outdoor  premises  and 
fenced  about  with  a  plank  or  two  to  pre- 
vent scattering.  If  but  one  plaything 
could  be  provided  for  a  family  of  child- 
ren, a  sand-pile  would  be  the  one  above 
all  others  which  the  wise  mother  would 
select.  Here,  even  the  baby  will  be  per- 
fectly safe  and  happy,  rolling  about  at 
first  like  a  frolicsome  puppy  and  later 
covering  and  uncovering  his  hands  and 
patting  out  pies  and  cakes.  He  will  dig 
for  hours  in  such  a  sand-pile  if  a  rough, 
35 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

home-made  shovel  and  tin  pail  be  pro- 
vided. In  the  sand,  too,  the  older  child- 
ren may  model  their  geography  lessons, 
reproduce  the  features  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  for  cooperative  work  lay  out 
farms,  perhaps,  surrounded  by  wooded 
hills,  lakes  (bits  of  looking-glass)  with 
swans  floating  on  them,  construct  bridges, 
the  various  farm-buildings,  folds  and 
pens  for  cattle  and  sheep,  and,  by  the 
aid  of  the  whole  family,  even  the  neigh- 
boring settlement  and  village  church. 

In  the  writer's  experience  no  childish 
pleasure  compared  with  that  of  "play- 
ing house,"  and  that  it  is  a  universal 
human  joy  needs  no  argument  to  prove. 
A  wooden  box  set  in  the  garden  with  a 
shelf  driven  in,  to  provide  an  upper 
chamber,  is  all  that  is  needed  at  first, 
and  bits  of  broken  dishes,  blocks,  and 
stones  are  easily  transformed  into  the 
needed  furniture.  Burrs  can  be  made 
into  thick  rugs  for  the  cottage,  into  hats 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

for  the  corn-cob  dolls,  or  baskets  and 
trays  for  them  to  carry.  The  stronger 
grasses  can  be  woven  into  carpets,  and 
portieres  and  curtains  maybe  strung  from 
corn,  bright-colored  beans,  shells,  straws, 
and  pease,  or  other  materials  to  be  had 
for  the  picking-up. 

If  one  lives  near  the  woods,  a  two- 
story  house  of  pine  boughs  is  easily  made, 
setting  up  four  uprights,  tying  miniature 
beams  across,  making  the  walls  of  thick 
branches,  cutting  out  windows  and  doors 
from  the  green,  and  making  furniture  of 
twigs  and  tiny  cones  fastened  with  pins. 
Larger  cones  form  the  inmates,  with 
hastily  arranged  costumes  of  scraps  from 
the  workbag;  and  the  residence,  when 
completed,  is  as  exquisite  in  color  as  the 
most  aesthetic  doll  could  desire. 

More  ambitious  houses  are  sometimes 
constructed  of  old  wooden  boxes,  to 
which  pebbles  or  sand  are  glued  to  imi- 
tate stone.  Shingles  make  suitable  roofs, 
37 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

which  may  be  colored  with  home-made 
dyes.  Cracker  tins,  cut  with  tinsmith's 
scissors,  make  admirable  roofs  and  par- 
titions also,  and  spools  strung  on  sticks 
are  most  effective  for  columns  and  pil- 
lars. Corrugated  paper,  such  as  is 
wrapped  around  bottles,  gives  a  finely 
Oriental  effect  when  bent  and  curved  for 
roofs  of  piazzas  and  summer-houses, 
while  mosaic  floors  laid  in  patterns  with 
shells,  pebbles,  or  seeds  are  most  effect- 
ive. Children  have  been  known  to  make 
very  pretty  furniture  out  of  the  button 
balls  of  the  sweet  gum  tree  stuck  to- 
gether; out  of  clay,  spools,  chestnuts, 
and  pins  and  wool;  and  have  even  carved 
sofas  and  bedsteads  from  squashes  and 
pumpkins.  When  such  a  house  is  sur- 
rounded with  flourishing  groves,  well- 
laid-out  flower-beds,  and  pebble  paths, 
when  boats  of  peapods  or  pine  bark  sail 
on  its  waters,  when  cottonwool  lambs 
with  pin  legs  sport  in  its  meadows,  when 

38 


OUTDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

a  walnut-shell  lady  sits  in  the  window 
with  a  radish  infant  in  her  arms,  then, 
indeed,  the  heart  of  the  proud  propri- 
etor swells  well-nigh  to  bursting  with  joy. 


Ill 

INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

WHEN  we  come  to  consider  the  sub- 
ject of  indoor  work  and  play,  we  see  at 
once  that  one  prolific  source  of  difficulty 
with  children  lies  in  lack  of  room  and 
facilities  for  the  kinds  of  employment 
which  are  particularly  beneficial  and  de- 
lightful to  them.  Here,  the  mother  who 
is  pent  in  the  small  town  house  or  flat, 
without  adequate  room  for  herself  and 
her  husband,  without  a  garden  spot, 
without  an  attic,  without  any  one  place 
which  she  can  use  as  overflow  for  herself 
and  her  possessions,  has  good  cause  to 
envy  her  lonely  sister  on  the  ranch,  or  in 
the  mining-camp.  There  are  few  mothers 
living  where  space  is  not  sold  in  inches, 
and  valued  accordingly,  who  cannot  pro- 
40 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

vide  a  real  playroom  for  their  children, 
or  cannot  knock  up  a  rude  substitute, 
and  having  that,  the  battle  is  half  won. 
The  room  should  be  large,  if  several  child- 
ren are  to  share  it,  and  the  barer  the 
better.  A  cork  or  hemp  rug  for  the  floor 
that  will  deaden  sound  a  little  and  pro- 
vide warmth,  yet  can  be  taken  up  and 
thoroughly  cleansed,  a  hammock  or  an 
old  couch  with  a  washable  cover,  a  few 
low  chairs,  stools,  and  tables  suitable  for 
Lilliputian  legs,  and  that  is  all.  If  the 
handy  father  will  fashion  a  rough  cup- 
board for  each  child,  or  arrange  shelves 
for  each,  with  curtains,  or  even  nail 
packing-boxes  to  the  floor,  with  the 
covers  securely  fastened  in  as  shelves, 
the  happy  possessors  of  the  room  will 
not  envy  even  the  infant  Prince  of  the 
Asturias.  And  why  should  they?  What 
does  any  reasonable  human  being  want 
more  than  light  and  space,  warmth  and 
air,  a  place  to  store  his  few  possessions, 

41 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

and  room  enough  to  work  out  his  ideas  ? 
Even  the  baby,  if  set  on  the  floor  and 
given  a  creeping-rug  to  keep  off  drafts, 
or  set  in  a  padded  packing-box,  will  be 
quite  amused  and  happy  in  watching 
the  activity  of  his  elders,  especially  if  an 
old  tin  pan  and  spoon,  or  other  engine 
of  delightful  racket  be  provided.  Child- 
ren would  not  be  so  intolerably  noisy 
and  nerve-destroying,  as  they  frequently 
are,  if  they  had  a  suitable  place  in  which 
to  let  off  their  superfluous  energies;  and 
it  should  be  considered  their  right  to 
turn  their  playroom  at  a  moment's  no- 
tice into  an  Indian  village,  a  circus  ring, 
or  a  field  of  battle.  A  narrow  strip  of 
board  set  at  the  bottom  of  each  window, 
on  which  the  lower  sash  may  rest,  gives 
the  amount  of  ventilation  necessary  if 
we  are  to  have  good  and  happy  children; 
and  the  means  of  warming  the  room  in 
winter  must  be  left  for  individual  judg- 
ment and  the  special  conditions  of  each 
42 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

home.  An  open  fire  is,  of  course,  the 
best  method  of  heating;  but  this  must 
be  thoroughly  screened,  and  stoves  or 
steampipes  provided  with  guards,  if  the 
mother  is  to  have  a  moment's  peace  in 
absence.  A  screen  to  cover  a  fireplace  is 
easily  made  out  of  wire  netting  and  a 
stove  guard  from  a  sheet  of  tin;  and 
fortunately  the  American  father  is  com- 
monly a  Jack-of-all-trades,  and  is  at  his 
best  when  making  something  out  of 
nothing.  Such  a  playroom  needs  only 
a  moderate  degree  of  heat,  however,  — 
just  enough  to  take  the  chill  off,  for  the 
children  are  seldom  quiet  in  it  and  are 
supplying  their  own  warmth. 

A  prism  hung  in  the  window  to  make 
"light-birds"  on  the  wall  is  always  a  joy 
to  the  children,  and  one  of  the  oddest  and 
prettiest  effects  in  the  world  is  obtained 
by  hanging  or  fastening  to  the  window- 
pane  a  plate  of  glass  which  has  been  made 
into  what  is  technically  known  as  a  grat- 
43 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

ing.  This  is  produced  by  scratching  upon 
the  surface  thousands  of  fine  lines  paral- 
lel and  almost  touching.  When  the  light 
falls  upon  it,  it  is  refracted  and  broken 
into  its  elements  so  as  to  throw  rainbow 
halos  and  splendors  in  every  direction. 
If  hung  in  the  direct  sunlight,  the  blaze  of 
color  is  almost  too  brilliant  for  comfort. 
Varied  effects  are  obtained  by  intersect- 
ing one  set  of  parallel  lines  with  another 
set  at  right  angles,  or  with  two  sets  of 
groups  running  at  different  oblique  an- 
gles. The  most  expensive,  and  perhaps 
the  most  exquisite,  are  those  where  the 
lines  are  concentric  circles  or  are  en- 
graved by  a  geometric  lathe. 

It  is  understood  that  each  child  is  to 
have  a  place  for  his  own  toys  and  his  own 
collections  in  this  playroom;  that  he  is 
responsible  for  this  place,  whatever  it 
may  be,  and  absolutely  obliged,  on  pain 
of  losing  it  altogether,  to  put  it  in  as  good 
order  as  comes  within  his  powers  before 
44 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

he  leaves  it  at  night.  A  room,  such  as 
has  been  described,  must  never  be  left 
in  the  mad  confusion  which  frequently 
characterizes  it  by  day,  and  still  less 
should  the  mother  set  it  in  order  herself, 
which  indeed  is  one  of  the  most  perni- 
cious of  all  practices. 

If  a  low  blackboard  running  along  one 
side  of  the  room,  with  a  shelf  for  chalk 
and  brushes,  be  made  with  a  prepara- 
tion of  silicate  directly  upon  the  wall, 
or  a  wooden  one  fastened  firmly  there, 
this  will  be  a  great  resource  to  be  used  in 
common  by  the  children.  The  picture- 
and  story-books,  too,  must  be  on  low 
shelves  and  used  in  common,  for  they 
form  in  reality  a  kind  of  circulating 
library. 

There  should  also  be  a  mother's  cup- 
board or  closet  in  the  playroom  contain- 
ing special  playthings  for  great  occasions, 
such  as  birthdays,  holidays,  days  of  con- 
valescence or  incipient  invalidism,  days 
45 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

when  the  wind  is  in  the  east,  everybody's 
temper  short,  and  hands  likely  to  be 
raised  against  neighbors.  To  this  retreat 
toys  unappreciated  or  maltreated  must 
be  returned  till  a  better  mind  comes  to 
their  owners,  work  neglected  and  left 
lying  about  must  retire  for  a  season,  and 
any  special  article,  become  a  bone  of  con- 
tention, withdrawn  till  its  common  owners 
agree  to  share  it  in  peace.  Here,  too,  the 
mother  will  keep  her  stores  of  pencils, 
black  and  colored;  her  sheets  of  white 
and  brown  wrapping-paper,  cut  in  suit- 
able sizes  and  pressed  smooth;  her  paste- 
board, buttons,  spools,  chalks,  tin,  card- 
board, and  wooden  boxes;  her  ends  of 
string,  tinfoil,  picture-magazines,  cata- 
logues,—  anything  and  everything,  in 
fact,  which  will  serve  as  fuel  for  the  great 
play-engine.  It  would  be  delightful,  too, 
if  a  drawer  in  the  closet  could  be  devoted 
to  objects  and  old  finery  suitable  for 
tableaux  and  dramatizations,  such  as 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

trappings  for  soldiers,  feathered  hats, 
trained  skirts,  buckled  belts,  gold  lace, 
and  old  jewelry.  Mother's  closet  is,  of 
course,  never  to  be  opened  in  her  absence 
or  without  her  consent,  and  should  be 
treated  in  general  as  a  high,  exalted  place 
with  which  no  liberties  are  taken. 

An  old  German  toymaker,  when  asked 
where  he  got  the  ideas  for  his  playthings, 
once  answered,  with  a  half-smile,  — 
"Not  from  the  children,  anyway.  Child- 
ren seldom  get  the  toys  they  want,  but 
those  that  their  parents  want  them  to 
want."  Let  us  recall  this  saying  when 
selecting  playthings  for  the  children  and 
remember  that  ready-made  toys,  which 
are  almost  entirely  excluded  from  the 
kindergarten,  should  be  nearly  so  from 
the  home.  Their  influence  is  of  little 
value  to  children,  like  that  of  ready-made 
truths  and  opinions  for  adults,  in  mat- 
ters of  which  they  ought  to  be  enabled 
to  judge  for  themselves.  The  best  use 
47 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

children  make  of  toys  is  to  break  them, 
in  order  to  examine  how  they  are  made, 
what  they  are  composed  of,  and  to  re- 
fashion them  according  to  their  own 
taste.  Something  ready-made  is,  how- 
ever, necessary  —  only  it  should  be  sim- 
ple, and  not  too  plentiful.  The  kinder- 
garten materials  provide  for  this,  at  the 
same  time  making  the  hands  of  the  little 
ones  skillful,  showing  how  much  more 
their  minds  are  intent  on  constructing 
than  on  breaking  things. 

It  is  most  interesting,  and  shows  the 
need  children  feel  for  large  toys,  to  see 
their  joy  in  playing  with  washboilers, 
coal-hods,  wastebaskets,  stoves,  chairs, 
and  various  other  domestic  articles  ap- 
parently quite  unsuited  to  their  size 
and  requirements.  We  commonly  take 
them  away  from  the  baby,  under  the 
impression,  not  even  dispelled  by  his 
wails,  that  he  does  not  know  what  he 
wants,  and  present  him  instead  with  a 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

rubber  cat  that  squeaks,  or  an  ivory 
rattle  hung  with  bells.  The  possibilities 
of  these  small  and  uninteresting  articles 
are  soon  exhausted,  and  baby  wails  afresh 
for  that  big  and  satisfactory  waste- 
basket  that  could  be  handled,  tumbled 
about,  inverted  on  his  head,  and  even 
crawled  into. 

Psychologists  are  telling  us  now  that 
the  larger  motor  activities,  those  of  the 
arm  and  forearm,  are  developed  before 
the  smaller  ones  of  the  hand  and  fingers, 
and  some  of  the  kindergarten  materials 
are  being  increased  in  size  to  meet  the 
child's  need  in  this  respect.  Let  us  remem- 
ber the  new  knowledge  and  try  to  select 
playthings  in  accordance  with  it.  With 
a  little  guidance  children  soon  learn  to 
handle  simple  tools,  as  hammers,  saws, 
files,  and  augers,  without  any  more 
chance  of  injury  than  comes  with  the 
use  of  any  interesting  plaything;  and  a 
restless  child  of  four  years  will  long  be 
49 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

amused  and  happy  if  allowed  to  drive 
plain  or  brass-headed  tacks  into  a  board 
according  to  a  simple  pattern.  The  play- 
room may  well  be  provided,  as  the  child- 
ren grow  older,  with  a  small  carpenter's 
bench,  a  set  of  tools,  nails  of  various 
sizes,  a  bundle  of  laths,  and  some  soft 
pine;  and  girls  as  well  as  boys  will  use 
them  all  and  invite  their  companions  to 
share  in  their  joy.  All  children  delight  in 
materials  for  household  employments: 
toy  brooms,  dusters,  shovels,  wash- 
boards, market  baskets,  watering-pots, 
scrubbing-brushes,  flatirons,  and  can  fre- 
quently be  of  real  service  in  using  them. 
Children  of  both  sexes  should  early  be 
taught  to  help  in  the  housework,  indoors 
and  out,  as  far  as  their  strength  allows; 
for  this  is  one  of  the  great  benefits  of  rural 
training,  now  almost  banished  from  the 
city  home,  with  its  gas  stoves,  its  steam 
heat  and  electric  lights,  its  bakeries  and 
laundries  at  the  doors,  with  everything 
50 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

in  fact  so  ready-made  and  systematized 
that  nothing  is  left  for  eager,  restless 
little  hands  and  feet  to  do  save  to  get 
into  mischief.  Let  the  children,  then,  in 
the  country  homes  pick  up  chips  and 
bring  in  kindling,  dry  dishes,  set  tables, 
sprinkle  clothes,  fold  simple  articles  and 
iron  them;  let  them  even  help  in  cooking, 
if  mother's  time  and  patience  will  hold 
out. 

Turning  from  domestic  employments 
to  those  more  distinctively  in  the  kinder- 
garten line,  let  us  first  consider  what  the 
child  in  the  playroom  or  by  the  mother's 
side  can  do  with  paper.  Tearing  is  one 
of  the  employments  earliest  enjoyed,  and 
one  that  will  long  keep  a  baby  amused 
and  happy.  He  may  tear  old  newspapers 
in  bits  till  he  sits  surrounded  by  the 
drift,  which  can  finally  be  swept  up  into 
baskets  for  kindling  fires,  or  used  for 
stuffing  a  cushion  for  the  cat  or  dog. 
Later,  he  learns  to  tear  long  strips,  which 


THE  HOME-MADE   KINDERGARTEN 

can  be  converted  by  the  older  children 
into  fly-brooms,  or  fastened  to  screen 
doors  to  keep  out  insects;  and  later  still, 
with  plain  brown  or  white  paper,  prefer- 
ably, he  can  tear  the  rude  outline  of 
household  objects,  perhaps  even  animals 
by  and  by. 

Then  there  are  paper  chains,  which, 
with  a  cup  of  paste  and  a  thin  flat  stick 
as  brush,  he  will  delight  to  put  together, 
reveling  not  only  in  the  combinations 
of  color  but  in  the  sticky  fingers.  The 
mother  or  older  child  must  first  cut  the 
strips  for  pasting,  making  them  about 
five  inches  long  and  an  inch  wide,  at  first. 
The  paper  —  colored,  if  possible;  if  not, 
white,  brown,  or  both  white  and  brown 
—  should  be  ruled  and  cut  accurately, 
else  the  chains  will  be  no  pleasure  to  the 
eye  when  finished.  They  make  pretty 
decorations  for  Christmas  trees,  for  the 
playroom,  if  not  left  up  too  long  and  al- 
lowed to  get  dusty,  and  may  even  serve 
52 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

as  barbaric  decorations  for  the  person. 
Older  children  enjoy  making  chains  also, 
using  narrower  and  shorter  links  and 
more  elaborate  combinations  of  color. 

The  ordinary  paper  squares  used  for 
folding  in  the  kindergarten  are  four  by 
four  inches  in  size,  but  it  is  quite  as  well 
to  have  them  considerably  larger  than 
this  for  home  use.  If  colored  paper  is 
not  to  be  had,  ordinary  wrapping-paper, 
accurately  cut  and  cut  to  measure,  will  do 
very  well,  and  even  newspaper  is  not  to 
be  despised.  Any  kindergarten  guide- 
book or  manual  will  give  directions  for 
folding  symmetrical  figures  and  ordinary 
play  articles,  but,  failing  these,  the  child- 
hood memories  of  almost  any  parent 
will  furnish  patterns  for  boxes,  fly-traps, 
boats,  baskets,  stars,  rosettes,  cocked 
hats,  etc.  Folding  is  a  valuable  occupa- 
tion, giving  a  wide  knowledge  of  geo- 
metrical lines  and  planes,  as  well  as 
practice  in  dexterity  and  accuracy;  but 
53 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

if  these  last  are  to  be  gained  by  its  use, 
the  papers  must  be  accurately  cut  and 
folded  as  carefully.  Triangles  and  circles 
are  also  used  in  the  kindergarten,  and 
the  mother  who  experiments  with  these 
forms  will  no  doubt  be  able  to  invent 
her  own'  foldings  from  them.  Large 
squares,  folded  in  some  pretty  fashion, 
make  a  very  effective  border  for  the 
playroom,  if  fastened  to  the  wall  with 
thumb-tacks;  and  tiny  ones,  of  gilt  or 
colored  paper,  pressed  very  flat,  may 
decorate  home-made  picture  frames  and 
fancy  boxes. 

The  heavy  brown  wrapping-paper, 
known  in  America  as  "bogus  paper,"  is 
admirable  for  making  furniture  for  doll's 
houses,  cutting  and  pasting  according 
to  some  plan  conceived  by  the  mother 
or  thought  out  by  an  older  child.  This, 
in  connection  with  the  heavy  corrugated 
paper  before-mentioned  (the  kind  used 
for  wrapping  bottles),  is  quite  stiff 

54 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

enough,  too,  for  a  very  satisfactory  doll's 
house;  so  it  is  evident,  for  all  these  uses, 
that  the  provident  mother  must  preserve 
every  scrap  of  heavy  and  light  paper, 
pasteboard,  and  cardboard  that  comes 
to  the  house,  rejecting  the  ragged  and 
broken  portions  and  cutting  the  rest  into 
suitable  sizes  for  the  store-closet. 

Drawing  is  a  universal  occupation  of 
the  human  race,  and  children  take  to 
it  very  early,  without  suggestion.  The 
low  blackboard  with  its  white  chalks 
(colored  ones  being  used  as  rewards  and 
incentives)  is  very  useful  here  and 
greatly  enjoyed,  one  exercise,  much  to 
be  commended,  being  the  making  of 
large  disks  or  plates  with  a  circular 
sweep  of  the  arm.  Lead  pencils  and 
colored  crayons  may  later  be  supplied, 
as  well  as  some  simple  pencil  sharpener, 
for  the  younger  children,  or  squares  of 
sandpaper,  which  will  serve  the  purpose 
very  well. 

55 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

Any  rough-surfaced  paper,  brown  or 
white,  will  do  for  the  young  artists,  the 
plain  side  of  old  wall  paper  being  very 
useful.  The  paper  should  be  carefully 
cut  and  pressed  smooth  before  drawing 
begins,  for  no  good  purpose  is  ever  served 
by  allowing  children  to  use  untidy,  ill- 
prepared  materials  in  their  work.  They 
should  have  low  tables,  and  chairs,  too, 
appropriate  to  their  size,  or  a  board  on 
trestles,  and  a  stool.  The  babies  at  first 
enjoy  making  smaller  disks  like  those  on 
the  blackboard,  with  the  same  move- 
ment of  the  pencil,  and  also  tracing  the 
outlines  of  their  hands,  and  of  simple 
pasteboard  or  wooden  forms  furnished 
for  the  purpose.  Transparent  slates,  and 
stencil  patterns  to  be  followed  on  paper, 
are  by  no  means  to  be  despised  either, 
for  we  are  trying,  by  all  these  means, 
not  to  raise  up  great  artists,  but  good  and 
happy  children,  able  for  the  most  part  to 
occupy  themselves  without  assistance. 

56 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

By  and  by  they  will  enjoy  free-hand 
drawing  from  leaves,  fruit  and  flowers, 
domestic  articles,  and  objects  in  the 
room.  Here  competitions  are  of  great 
service,  and  the  free-hand  drawing  may 
sometimes  be  used  as  a  family  game  in 
the  evening,  the  parents  joining  in  the 
sport.  Colored  crayons  are  always  de- 
lightful, of  course,  and  free-hand  brush- 
work,  if  water-color  paints  are  to  be  had, 
should  be  begun  as  early  as  possible. 
Children  have  often  been  known  to 
make  their  own  paints,  using  berries, 
flowers,  nuts,  colored  earths,  etc.,  for  the 
purpose,  but  these  materials  would  so 
vary  in  different  places  that  it  would  be 
useless  to  suggest  them  here.  Coloring 
pictures,  in  books  provided  for  the  pur- 
pose, or  in  illustrated  catalogues  and 
magazines,  is  a  universal  enjoyment;  and 
if  different  sized  disks  of  cardboard  cut 
in  circles  and  ovals  be  provided,  all  little 
people  delight  in  painting  doll's  dishes, 
57 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

making  decorative  borders  and  designs 
on  plates,  saucers,  and  platters. 

To  supply  a  family  of  children  with 
all  the  paper  they  need  for  their  various 
occupations  would  require  a  small  fac- 
tory working  at  full  steam;  but  since 
this  is  not  to  be  had,  and  since  they  can- 
not, like  Madam  Wasp,  manufacture 
their  own,  the  only  recourse  is  to  pre- 
serve every  scrap  that  comes  to  the 
house,  if  it  be  at  all  in  hopeful  condition, 
and  to  place  the  neighbors  (if  there  are 
any  and  they  happen  to  be  childless) 
under  requisition  also.  One  of  the  strong 
points  of  the  kindergarten,  especially 
insisted  upon  by  Froebel,  is  the  careful 
and  economical  use  of  all  materials;  and 
if  we  do  not  allow  children  to  waste  what 
we  provide,  we  shall  commonly  have 
enough  for  their  wants.  If  we  have  not, 
they  must  wait  until  another  supply  is 
forthcoming;  and  such  waiting,  though 
somewhat  painful,  is  often  salutary. 

58 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

As  soon  as  children  can  handle  a  pair 
of  blunt  scissors,  and  that  is  very  early, 
they  enjoy  cutting;  and  if  they  can  do 
nothing  else,  can  soon  cut  long  pieces  for 
fires,  for  rolled  lamplighters,  and  later 
follow  ruled  lines  and  cut  strips  for 
chains.  The  kindergarten  cutting  is 
largely  done  on  folded  squares,  trian- 
gles, and  circles  of  the  same  size  as  those 
used  for  folding,  and  the  children  are 
subsequently  guided  to  make  a  design 
with  the  pieces,  it  being  understood  that 
they  must  use  all  of  them,  and  to  paste 
the  result  in  permanent  form  in  a  book 
or  on  cardboard.  They  cut  traced  ob- 
jects also,  and  later  on  experiment  with 
the  scissors,  cutting  what  they  choose, 
often  getting  very  good  effects  and  pro- 
ducing recognizable  objects.  This  free 
cutting  cannot  be  done  well,  of  course, 
until  the  first  difficulty  in  handling  the 
scissors  is  overcome,  and  until  sharp 
points  can  safely  be  given;  but  the  occu- 
59 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

pation,  even  in  its  primary  stages,  is 
always  charming  to  children,  who  delight 
in  the  glittering  scissors,  the  rustle  of 
paper,  and  the  mastery  over  material 
which  they  quickly  perceive  is  in  their 
hands. 

To  provide  objects  for  cutting,  all 
magazines,  newspapers,  advertising 
cards,  and  tradesmen's  catalogues  with 
suitable  pictures  should  be  preserved  and 
laid  away  in  the  store-closet,  from  which 
place  of  delight  and  mystery  they  can 
be  produced  when  required.  Careful 
cutting,  according  to  individual  ability, 
should  be  required,  the  scraps  gathered 
up  at  the  end  of  the  play  and  the  pic- 
tures put  away  in  boxes.  At  another 
time,  when  a  number  of  pictures  has 
been  accumulated,  they  can  be  sorted 
and  arranged  in  envelopes  according  to 
kind  and  to  the  various  uses  for  which 
they  are  destined. 

Home-made  scrap  books  are  among  the 
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INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

most  enjoyable  gifts  for  babies  or  little 
invalids,  and  if  neatly  put  together,  sell 
well  at  a  children's  fair.  Children  enjoy 
making  them  on  a  few  yards  of  white 
paper  muslin  cut  into  squares  of  con- 
venient size.  On  these  can  be  pasted  the 
pretty  pictures  that  have  been  cut  out 
in  the  playroom.  There  are  so  many  col- 
ored illustrations  nowadays  that  gor- 
geous books  may  be  evolved  at  small 
cost.  The  squares  of  muslin  are  sewed 
together  and  bound  with  cloth  or  silk, 
and  being  difficult  to  tear  are  just  the 
thing  for  children  too  young  to  read,  but 
old  enough  to  look  at  pictures.  A  good 
paste  is  made  of  two  heaping  teaspoon- 
fuls  of  flour  mixed  smoothly  with  a  little 
cold  water,  then  poured  into  half  a  large 
teacupful  of  boiling  water  and  stirred 
quickly  on  the  range  until  it  bubbles. 

Objects  and  figures  from  remnants  of 
wall  paper   may  also  be  cut  out  and 
make  charming  borders  and  decorations 
61 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

for  large  scrapbooks,  the  space  within  to 
be  filled  with  smaller  objects.  Helter- 
skelter  pasting,  with  no  idea  whatever 
in  the  work,  is  of  very  little  value,  even 
when  neatly  done,  and  it  is  quite  easy 
to  accustom  children  from  the  first  to 
arrange  their  books,  or  leaves  of  books, 
according  to  a  plan.  They  may  make 
books  or  charts  of  leaves,  flowers,  fruit, 
animals,  children,  toys,  clothing,  dishes, 
furniture,  buildings,  farm  implements, 
men  and  women,  of  anything  in  fact 
that  the  enterprising  advertiser  issues  in 
the  form  of  pamphlets  or  entrusts  to  the 
periodicals.  If  a  long  lookout  ahead  is 
maintained  by  the  older  children  they 
can  often  secure  in  various  ways  a  series 
of  historical  pictures,  which  they  can  use 
chronologically  in  illustrating  their  les- 
sons, and  such  a  series  is  really  of  great 
value  in  impressing  certain  facts  and 
dates. 

An  educational  writer  in  one  of  our 
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INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

periodicals  lately  suggested  a  "Nursery 
Art  Exhibition,"  which  provides  a  use 
for  cuttings,  and  would  undoubtedly  be 
greatly  enjoyed.  Let  each  child  select 
from  a  large  stock  of  pictures  previously 
cut,  those  which  particularly  appeal  to 
his  taste,  and  once  a  month,  perhaps, 
let  there  be  a  grand  display.  Shawls, 
old  curtains,  or  colored  blankets  may  be 
hung  up  in  different  parts  of  the  room, 
and  each  artist  must  have  a  special  place 
for  his  exhibit,  which  is  to  be  arranged 
according  to  his  own  taste.  The  parents 
may  then  be  invited  to  view  the  pictures 
and  to  award  the  varying  degrees  of 
praise  which  may  be  needed. 

Some  gifted  children  of  my  acquaint- 
ance devised  for  themselves  a  unique 
system  of  decoration  for  their  play- 
room, using  each  of  the  four  walls  for  a 
different  line  of  objects.  There  were  the 
botanical,  the  zoological,  the  historical, 
and  the  Sunday  walls. 

63 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

On  the  botanical  wall  were  dried  ferns, 
mosses,  lichens,  fungi,  autumn  leaves 
and  grasses,  sprays  of  wheat  and  oats, 
corn  and  beans  of  different  varieties 
arranged  in  patterns,  nuts,  burrs,  rose- 
hips, black  alderberries,  etc.,  and  in  one 
corner  colored  pictures  of  all  the  fruits 
grown  in  the  neighborhood,  cut  from 
seedsmen's  catalogues. 

On  the  zoological  wall  were  butter- 
flies, moths,  and  beetles,  —  only  those 
found  dead  on  their  daily  walks  being 
used,  —  seashells,  snakeskins,  deserted 
birds'  nests,  with  a  picture  of  the  bird 
to  which  they  belonged  fastened  below; 
and  above  all  these  a  frieze  of  free-hand 
sketches  of  all  the  wild  animals  they  had 
seen  in  the  woods  and  fields  at  different 
times.  These  sketches  were  fortunately 
labeled  for  the  benefit  of  the  occasional 
visitor,  who  else  might  have  admired 
in  the  wrong  place.  The  historical  wall 
was  really  most  interesting,  the  centre- 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

piece  being  an  old  engraving  of  Washing- 
ton crossing  the  Delaware,  which  they 
had  found  in  the  attic  and  ingeniously 
framed  in  pine  cones.  The  collection  at 
the  time  I  was  admitted  to  see  it,  was 
devoted  to  American  history,  and  it 
was  marvelous  to  see  how,  by  cutting  fig- 
ures, objects,  and  scenes  from  a  variety  of 
magazines,  the  young  artists  had  com- 
bined them  to  illustrate  famous  events 
in  our  country's  history. 

On  the  Sunday  wall  the  pictures  were 
the  finest  and  most  expensive,  a  really 
good  reproduction  of  the  Sistine  Ma- 
donna, furnished  by  the  father  of  the 
family,  serving  as  the  chief  point  of 
attraction.  J.  The  children  had  r  earned 
money  themselves  to  buy  large  copies  of 
Reynolds's  Heads  of  Angels,  Knaus's 
Holy  Family,  Murillo's  St.  John  and 
the  Lamb,  and  Adoration  of  the  Shep- 
herds, Memling's  Singing  Angels,  and 
Plockhorst's  Christ  blessing  Little  Child- 
65 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

ren,  and  these,  it  appeared,  they  exhib- 
ited two  at  a  time  on  each  side  of  the 
Sistine  Madonna  in  unique  frames  the  de- 
voted father  had  arranged  for  the  pur- 
pose. I  append  the  directions  for  making 
these  as  they  were  given  me.  Take  two 
pieces  of  picture  moulding  of  the  de- 
sired length  and  nail  them  to  the  wall 
parallel  with  each  other  and  as  far  apart 
as  the  height  of  the  picture  they  are  in- 
tended to  frame.  Before  nailing,  place 
twro  small  blocks  behind  the  upper  one 
to  obtain  sufficient  space  between  it  and 
the  wall  to  slip  in  a  suitable  piece'of  glass. 
If  desired,  a  piece  of  the  moulding  may 
be  fitted  at  each  end,  thus  making  a  more 
complete  setting.  Mouldings  may  be 
obtained  at  from  nine  cents  per  foot  up- 
wards, and  thus  a  permanent  frame,  in 
which  the  pictures  may  be  changed  as 
often  as  desired,  made  at  small  cost. 
On  the  Sunday  wall,  too,  was  arranged 
a  large  portfolio  made  by  the  children 
66 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

themselves  of  heavy  cardboard  and 
cambric,  and  in  this  were  a  host  of  little 
blue  prints  from  the  old  masters,  all  be- 
ing on  religious  subjects.  These  were 
selected  by  the  older  children  and  given 
to  the  little  ones  to  look  over  when  they 
were  studying  their  Sunday-school 
lessons. 

I  Perhaps  a  word  of  warning  should  be 
given  here,  a  word  as  to  the  kind  of 
pictures  admitted  to  the  household,  re- 
membering if  they  be  not  really  good 
ones,  as  far  as  subject  is  concerned,  we 
are  but  deepening  evil  impressions  by 
allowing  the  children  not  only  to  look 
at  them,  but  to  centre  their  attention 
upon  them  so  far  as  to  cut  them  out 
and  paste  them.  Not  all  so-called  "pic- 
ture cards,"  sent  out  as  advertisements, 
are  fit  for  little  people;  and  the  Sun- 
day paper  —  in  America,  at  least  —  fre- 
quently offers  "comic"  pictures,  in 
colors,  over  which  children  are  allowed 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

to  pore  for  hours  and  which  are  in  exe- 
crable taste,  bad  in  subject,  worse  in 
suggestion,  low  and  vulgar  in  tone, 
and,  in  fact  and  altogether,  fit  only  for 
the  fire,  which  would  probably  turn 
blue  with  disgust  as  it  shriveled  them 
up. 

Another  kindergarten  occupation, 
which  again  is  a  primitive  industry  of 
man,  is  weaving,  and  some  form  of  it  may 
be  practiced  in  the  nursery  with  home- 
made materials.  An  old  slate  frame,  or 
wooden  box  cut  down,  maybe  converted 
into  a  loom,  a  row  of  nails  being  driven 
in  at  equal  distances  across  one  end,  the 
warp  fastened  to  these,  and  the  woof 
drawn  in  and  out  with  the  fingers.  The 
weaving  materials  (warp  and  woof)  may 
be  narrow  strips  of  cloth,  notched  by  the 
mother  and  torn  by  the  children  to  the 
proper  length  and  width;  they  may  be 
cords,  shoe  laces,  or  grasses,  if  a  suffi- 
ciently tough  and  pliable  kind  can  be 
68 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

found,  and  raffia,  if  to  be  had,  is  particu- 
larly useful. 

Kindergarten  weaving  is  done  with 
colored  papers  and  a  long  steel  needle 
into  which  the  weaving  strip  is  fastened, 
and  an  ingenious  child  can  often  fash- 
ion a  similar  needle  for  himself  from  a 
wooden  slat  cut  at  one  end  to  hold  the 
piece  of  cloth.  Children  sometimes  at- 
tain great  proficiency  with  these  rude 
looms  and  invent  designs  to  suit  them- 
selves, according  as  they  take  up  and 
put  down  with  the  woof  one  strip  or 
two  strips  of  the  warp,  or  one  and  two 
strips  alternately,  etc.,  etc.  The  woven 
products  when  finished,  the  ends  fast- 
ened and  notched,  or  fringed,  make 
very  pretty  mats,  holders,  or  rugs  for 
dolls'  houses,  and  the  occupation  as  a 
whole  is  one  that  develops  considerable 
dexterity,  accuracy,  and  knowledge  of 
arithmetical  processes. 

.There  is  a  kind  of  slat  weaving,  too, 

69 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

which  is  more  difficult,  but  can  be 
practiced  by  older  children.  The  materi- 
als commonly  used  are  tough,  pliable 
wooden  slats  about  a  foot  long  and  one 
third  of  an  inch  wide,  and  the  family 
that  has  remnants  of  old  slat  curtains  in 
the  house,  or  peach  baskets  which  can 
be  cut  up,  will  find  them  useful  for  this 
purpose.  The  slats  are  interwoven  to 
produce  designs,  which  will  not  hold  to- 
gether, by  the  way,  unless  at  least  four 
are  used,  and  which  may  be  used  for 
picture  frames,  long  borders  for  the 
blackboard,  or  picture  card  racks. 

Raffia  (an  imported  dried  grass,  very 
strong  and  pliable)  has  already  been 
mentioned  as  a  useful  material  for 
weaving,  and  its  value  is  so  great  in 
children's  work  that  a  supply  of  it 
should  be  laid  in,  if  at  all  possible.  Most 
fancy-work,  basketry,  and  kindergarten 
supply  stores  now  keep  it  in  stock,  and 
a  package  of  it  can  be  easily  posted,  as 
70 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

it  is  very  light.  Combined  with  straw  it 
is  used  for  basket-making,  than  which 
there  is  no  better  industry  if  the  mother 
can  give  the  first  few  lessons;  but  it  is 
useful  in  a  host  of  other  ways,  all  of 
which  are  easily  discovered  by  the 
children. 

If  any  mother  is  so  old-fashioned  as  to 
remember  the  art,  there  is  great  joy  to 
small  persons  in  knitting  wools  on  four 
pins  and  a  spool,  the  work,  a  long  tubu- 
lar cord,  being  afterwards  made  into 
reins  or  sewed  into  mats  or  tiny  carpets. 

Sewing,  too,  which  used  invariably  to 
be  taught  to  little  girls,  at  least,  but  is 
now  somewhat  out  of  fashion,  is  com- 
monly much  enjoyed,  particularly  if  its 
beginnings  are  practiced  on  scraps  of 
bright-colored  ribbons,  cottons,  and 
silk  instead  of  on  painfully  long  white 
seams.  Lavender  bags,  candy  bags,  or 
scent  bags  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  made 
of  odds  and  ends,  are  fascinating  trifles 
71 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

to  begin  with,  as  they  are  so  soon  fin- 
ished; and  then  there  is  the  fun  in  pro- 
spect of  planning,  cutting,  fitting,  and 
making  real  clothes  for  the  doll,  when 
fingers  have  grown  a  little  more  skillful. 
And  how  about  beadwork  for  small 
fingers?  The  "Second  Gift"  beads  of 
the  kindergarten  (wooden  balls,  cubes 
and  cylinders,  colored  and  uncolored) 
are  very  useful  for  stringing,  being  of 
a  comfortable  size,  pierced  with  holes 
large  enough  to  admit  a  shoe  lace,  or  a 
stout  cord.  They  are  rather  expensive 
and  cannot  be  made  at  home,  unfortu- 
nately, but  the  old-fashioned  glass  beads 
of  various  colors,  shapes,  and  sizes  are 
cheap  enough,  and  easily  to  be  had. 
They  are  not  so  desirable  for  babies  as 
the  wooden  beads,  as  they  are  too  small 
for  real  safety  and  require  needles  and 
thread  for  stringing.  Whatever  bead- 
work  the  children  do,  however,  let  us 
provide  an  abundance  of  material,  so 
72 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

that  the  occupation  may  be  really  edu- 
cative, allowing  varying  combinations 
of  forms  and  colors. 

When  we  speak  of  stringing  beads  we 
recall  the  delight  children  always  feel  in 
making  necklaces,  rings,  and  bracelets 
from  whatever  materials  are  at  hand,  and 
here  their  summer  collections  come  in 
play  for  use  in  the  winter  playroom. 
Children  of  my  acquaintance  have  used 
for  stringing  acorn-cups,  thorn-apples, 
Indian  corn  of  different  colors,  corn  and 
cloves,  corn  and  various  seeds,  chest- 
nuts, shells,  pods,  bittersweet,  acorns, 
smoke-balls,  beans,  beans  and  peas, 
squash  seeds  overlapping,  squash  seeds 
and  cranberries,  popcorn  and  cranber- 
ries, straws  and  peas,  straws  and  beans, 
maple-wings  and  straws,  horsetail  reeds 
and  peas,  pine  cones,  and  other  objects 
too  numerous  to  mention. 

The  twigs  from  their  collections,  nota- 
bly the  dry  twigs  of  the  pine  tree  from 
73 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

which  the  needles  have  fallen  away,  can 
be  used  to  make  rustic  furniture,  fasten- 
ing together  with  pins  the  pieces  of  dif- 
ferent lengths.  The  bright  pebbles  are 
often  much  enjoyed  if  put  in  a  wide- 
mouthed  bottle  and  covered  with  water, 
in  which  they  shine  and  shake  in  a  fas- 
cinating way.  If  objects  and  simple 
pictures  are  drawn  upon  the  table  with 
chalk,  even  the  very  little  child  can  fol- 
low their  outline  with  seeds,  —  squash 
and  melon  seeds,  sunflower,  corn,  beans, 
lentils,  and  coffee-berries  being  well 
adapted  to  the  purpose. 

And  then  there  are  the  stick  and  pea 
plays,  using  soaked  peas  and  slender, 
pointed  sticks,  which  are  an  inexhausti- 
ble delight  in  the  fashioning  of  mimic  ob- 
jects and  the  make-believe  use  of  them. 
Almost  anything  can  be  made  with  these 
materials,  the  peas  forming  the  points  of 
connection  between  the  wooden  lines,  a 
few  objects  suggested  being  sleds,  hoes, 
74 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

rakes,  wheelbarrows,  swords,  tents,  flags, 
houses,  furniture,  boats,  even  letters  and 
figures,  if  desired.  The  stick  and  pea 
plays  the  child  can  engage  in  largely  by 
himself,  and  they  are  really  valuable, 
training  the  hand,  educating  the  eye,  ex- 
ercising the  judgment,  and  stirring  the 
imagination. 

Blowing  soap  bubbles  is  a  particularly 
good  play  for  a  stormy  day,  if  clean  clay 
pipes  are  provided  and  the  bubble  mix- 
ture be  made  of  Castile  soap  with  the 
addition  of  a  little  glycerine  to  give  a 
greater  play  of  color.  An  exact  recipe 
is  the  following:  Put  into  a  pint  bottle 
two  ounces  of  best  Castile  soap,  cut  into 
thin  shavings,  and  fill  the  bottle  with 
cold  water  which  has  been  first  boiled 
and  then  left  to  cool.  Shake  well  to- 
gether, and  allow  the  bottle  to  stand 
until  the  upper  part  of  the  solution  is 
clear.  Decant  now  this  clear  solution  of 
two  parts,  adding  one  part  of  glyce- 
75 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

rine,  and  you  will  have  an  ideal  soap- 
bubble  mixture.  With  some  practice, 
bubbles  measuring  eight  or  ten  inches 
in  diameter  may  be  produced  and  a 
stand  for  them  be  provided  by  soaping 
the  edge  of  a  tumbler.  If  any  old  soft 
material  is  laid  on  the  floor  and  the 
room  divided  into  halves  by  a  shawl  or 
blanket  hung  across,  the  children  may 
be  arranged  in  two  opposing  camps  and 
have  a  very  good  match  game,  devising 
their  own  rules  as  to  size  and  number  of 
bubbles,  whether  they  shall  be  kept  in 
the  air  by  fanning,  how  much  it  shall 
count  if  a  bubble  falls  or  strays  across 
the  line,  etc.,  etc. 

Building,  one  of  the  prominent  kin- 
dergarten employments,  is  as  useful 
indoors  as  out,  of  course,  either  with 
small  blocks  at  the  low  tables  or  with 
large  ones  and  sticks  of  wood  upon  the 
floor.  In  some  German  kindergartens  a 
quantity  of  large  building  logs  is  sup- 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

plied,  a  foot  or  more  in  length,  three 
inches  wide,  and  one  inch  thick.  These 
are  kept  neatly  piled,  and  if  the  play- 
room is  large  enough  would  be  an  inval- 
uable resource  for  indoor  occupation. 
With  these,  and  any  smaller  blocks,  if  a 
sufficient  quantity  be  provided,  the  child 
can  work  out  his  own  ideas,  can  build 
objects  from  stories,  and  enjoy  the  free, 
untrammeled  use  of  indestructible  ma- 
terials. The  "Anchor  Blocks"  are  par- 
ticularly useful  in  the  playroom,  as  they 
are  of  stone,  are  washable,  made  in  three 
colors,  and  each  box  is  somewhat  more 
complicated  than  the  one  that  preceded  it. 
If  a  large  doll's  house  be  provided  for 
the  playroom,  never-ceasing  delight  will 
be  found  by  the  children  in  furnishing 
and  fitting  it  in  common.  Such  a  house 
may  be  only  a  rough  packing-case  with  a 
shelf,  insuring  a  bedroom  floor,  or,  ac- 
cording to  the  leisure  and  ability  of  the 
father,  it  may  be  prettily  finished  with 

77 


.THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

roof,  windows,  halls,  and  doorways.  No 
elaborate  finishing  is  necessary,  however; 
imagination  will  supply  all  deficiencies, 
and  the  simple  furniture,  changed  from 
time  to  time,  as  hands  grow  more  skill- 
ful, will  come  by  and  by  to  be  wonder- 
fully ingenious  and  elaborate.  Children 
maybe  encouraged  now  and  then  to  fit  up 
a  small  house  of  their  own,  which  can  be 
very  well  made  from  a  card-board  box 
and  which  furnishes  a  suitable  present 
for  an  invalid  child-friend.  Pebbles  or 
sand  may  be  glued  to  the  outside  of  the 
box,  if  desired,  to  make  it  look  like  stone, 
and  the  furnishings  may  all  be  of  spools, 
boxes,  and  paper.  A  match  box  may 
serve  as  a  cradle  with  paper  rockers,  a 
larger  box  be  cut  into  a  bed  with  fur- 
nishings of  lace  paper,  a  tiny  spool  make 
a  candlestick,  a  round  pill-box  a  clock 
with  face  drawn  in,  and,  finally,  home- 
made paper  dolls  may  occupy  the  seats 
of  honor. 

78 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

And  yet  the  tale  of  indoor  play  is  not 
completed,  for  there  is  gardening  of  a 
sort  to  be  done  with  potatoes,  carrots, 
and  parsnips  hollowed  out,  and  with 
ferneries,  window-boxes,  and  pans  of 
earth  where  seeds  are  planted. 

There  are  household  pets  to  be  cared 
for  also,  for  if  one  may  ever  state  a  gen- 
eral truth  applying  to  all  children,  a 
safe  one  to  venture  would  be  that  they 
have,  without  exception,  a  passion  for 
animals.  Every  child  lover  and  child 
student  knows  this  fact,  and  early  in  his 
wonderful  book,  the  "Mother-Play," 
Froebel  provided  games  for  the  develop- 
ment and  gratification  of  the  feeling. 

By  the  clustering  hop-vine  in  one  of 
the  first  pictures  the  mother  stands,  the 
infant  on  her  arm,  and  she  beckons  to 
the  chickens  clustering  at  her  feet.  "  Call 
them,  sweet  one!"  coaxes  the  mother. 
"They  will  come;  they  love  my  baby- 
kin."  Again  she  is  seated  with  the  child 
79 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

under  the  spreading  elm  tree,  the  pigeons 
fluttering  near,  and  as  she  sees  the  little 
one's  eyes  brighten  with  pleasure  in 
their  movements,  for  "life  attracts  life," 
she  flutters  her  fingers  like  white  doves, 
and  softly  calling  "Coo!  Coo!"  woos 
the  birds  to  come  nearer. 

There  are  other  animal  songs  and 
symbolic  pictures  in  this  unique  book 
for  mothers,  —  songs  about  fishes,  about 
birds'  nests,  about  humble  friends  of  the 
barnyard;  and  in  each  one  the  baby  is 
led  to  imitate  their  activities,  for  in  imi- 
tating he  begins  to  understand.  In  the 
kindergarten  the  animal  plays  are  con- 
tinued and  developed,  and  now  the  child 
is  a  father  bird  winging  through  grove 
and  meadow  to  find  food  for  his  nest- 
lings ;  now  a  mother  lizard  basking,  with 
her  little  ones,  in  the  sun;  now  a  pony, 
now  a  lambkin,  now  a  gray  goose  leading 
the  flock,  and  again  a  squirrel  gather- 
ing nuts  for  winter.  So  he  grows  into 
80 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

sympathy  with  all  dumb  creatures,  and 
learns  something  of  their  dependence 
upon  him  and  his  responsibility  for  their 
comfort  and  welfare. 

Froebel  has  much  to  say  in  some  of 
his  other  books  of  the  value  to  the  child 
of  companionship  with  living  things,  and 
of  the  benefits  which  he  may  gain  by  the 
care  of  his  pets.  Dr.  E.  E.  Hale,  in  speak- 
ing upon  one  occasion  to  the  friends  of 
the  Animal  Rescue  League,  put  in  a  plea 
for  pets  among  city  children.  It  has  been 
said,  for  instance,  that  persons  who  live 
in  cities  are  less  humane  than  those  who 
live  in  the  country,  because  the  former 
are  unused  to  having  animals  about 
them.  Dr.  Hale  questioned  fifty  Sun- 
day-school children  about  their  pets. 
Three  had  cats,  only  one  had  a  dog,  and 
not  a  single  child  had  a  canary  bird. 
"Now,  that  is  the  result  of  putting  up 
sixteen-story  tenement  houses,"  said  the 
good  doctor,  "and  then  you  ask  minis- 
Si' 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

ters  to  look  out  for  the  morals  in  these 
families !  I  should  be  glad  if  every  school- 
room in  Boston  had  its  pet  dog  or  cat  or 
rabbit.  The  children  would  be  trained 
in  kindness  to  weaker  beings,  and  so  be 
led  to  regard  one  another  more  sympa- 
thetically, more  tenderly,  and  grow  up 
to  be  better-hearted  men  and  women." 
It  is  surprising  how  little  the  pupils  of 
our  metropolitan  public  schools  know  of 
even  so  common  an  animal  as  a  cow,  and 
because  of  this  and  similar  ignorance 
how  much  of  our  teaching  misses  its  aim. 
In  view  of  this  fact  a  noted  scientist  has 
lately  suggested  establishing  homes  for 
domestic  animals  near  every  large  town, 
where  children  could  go  and  make  the 
acquaintance  of  their  useful  friends  in 
their  own  comfortable  and  appropriate 
surroundings.  The  benefit  of  studying 
animals  in  their  habit  as  they  live,  has 
already  been  shown  in  the  intelligent 
and  satisfactory  work  done  by  the  Wash- 
82 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

ington  school-children  in  the  Zoological 
Gardens  of  the  capital,  where  the  beasts, 
wild  and  tame,  are  given  all  freedom  pos- 
sible in  captivity,  and  where  they  repay 
careful  study,  since  the  natural  condi- 
tions under  which  they  live  make  them 
comparatively  free  and  unconstrained. 

To  look  at  and  study  animals,  how- 
ever, is  not  enough,  save,  perhaps,  for 
scientific  purposes;  we  must  enter  into 
some  closer  relationship  with  them  before 
we  can  really  know  and  love  them. 

A  longing  for  pets  is  strong  in  the 
heart  of  every  child,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
most  unfortunate  features  of  modern 
city  life,  as  Dr.  Hale  intimates,  that  so 
many  young  things  are  cut  off  from  the 
gratification  of  so  purely  normal  and 
beneficial  a  desire.  Everywhere,  in  all 
lands,  savage,  barbarous,  and  civilized, 
children  yearn  for  something  alive  which 
shall  be  their  very  own,  and  they  are, 
commonly,  quite  willing  to  make  friends 

83 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

with  any  animal,  whatever  it  may  be. 
Florentine  babies  guard  carefully  the 
wire  cage  that  holds  a  chirping  cricket, 
the  little  ones  of  Japan  delight  in  their 
captive  fireflies  that  flash  their  lights 
through  boxes  of  plaited  grass,  the  tiny 
fur-clad  Esquimau  rolls  about  on  the 
floor  of  his  igloo  with  a  bear-cub,  the 
African  child  frolics  with  his  parrot,  the 
East-Indian  with  his  mongoose,  and  our 
own  little  people  are  never  so  happy 
as  with  their  white  mice,  their  rabbits, 
doves,  guinea  pigs,  cats,  dogs,  and  ca- 
naries. These  are  the  ordinary  pets,  the 
pets  of  sophistication,  but  their  proud 
owners  would  by  no  means  confine  them- 
selves to  these  were  they  allowed  a 
broader  range.  Turtles  seem  to  have  an 
uncommon  fascination  for  country  child- 
ren,—  for  all  children,  in  fact,  —  and 
they  are  not  at  all  difficult  to  tame,  will 
eat  from  the  hand,  and  answer  to  their 
names;  toads  and  frogs  are  not  as  unre- 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

sponsive  as  they  appear,  apparently  live 
in  great  happiness  in  any  appropriate 
house  devised  for  them,  and  learn  to  snap 
fearlessly  at  flies  held  before  their  bright, 
black  eyes.  Children  frequently  take 
pleasure  also  in  the  care  and  friendly 
observation  of  snails,  earwigs,  and  bee- 
tles, and  among  the  larger  animals,  pigs, 
domestic  fowls,  lambs,  colts,  and  calves 
are  often  made  into  fairly  satisfactory 
playmates. 

Of  course,  the  parent,  who  watches 
with  interested  eyes  the  fraternizing 
of  his  boy  or  girl  with  the  animals  of 
wood  and  field,  has  a  certain  duty  laid 
upon  him,  that  of  seeing  that  the  crea- 
ture in  question  is  well  cared  for,  accord- 
ing to  his  peculiar  needs,  and  that  he  is 
not  made  unhappy  by  the  restraint  or 
captivity  in  which  he  is  kept.  No  child 
has  a  right  to  make  his  "little  brother" 
wretched  to  gratify  his  own  pleasure, 
and  the  sooner  he  learns  this  the  better. 

8s 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  animals  ac- 
customed to  and  ordinarily  kept  in  cap- 
tivity, and  any  neglect  of  duty  shown  by 
the  small  owner  in  caring  for  them  should 
be  visited  by  the  natural  and  inevitable 
consequence,  that  of  losing  them.  If  the 
parent  tends  the  pet  creature  himself  he 
is  depriving  the  child  of  the  chief  benefits 
of  its  ownership,  that  of  a  real  sense  of 
responsibility  and  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  relation  between  love  and  nurture. 
No  normal  child  would  willingly  hurt  his 
pet,  but  if  sufficiently  thoughtless  and 
careless  he  might  neglect  it,  and  even  one 
instance  of  suffering  inflicted  by  such 
neglect  should  result  in  the  liberation  of 
the  wild  creature,  or  the  return  of  the 
tame  one  to  the  shop  whence  it  came. 
The  child  cannot  learn  to  be  a  "little 
brother  to  the  whole  great  world"  by 
willfully  hurting  the  smallest  animal 
that  crawls,  and  if  he  forgets  the  needs 
of  a  living  thing  whose  earthly  Provi- 
86 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

dence  he  is,  he  should  be  deprived  of  it 
until  he  shows  an  altered  mind. 

There  are  those  who  contend  that  it  is 
cruel  to  keep  any  creature  in  captivity, 
and  that  to  give  the  child  goldfish  or 
canaries,  for  instance,  is  to  "intrench 
ourselves  behind  a  custom  of  the  dark 
ages  when  all  things  suffered  that  the 
senses  might  be  delighted."  This  argu- 
ment, however,  seems  an  overstrained 
one,  and  if  pursued  to  its  logical  end 
would  prove  it  equally  cruel  for  man 
to  make  any  use  of  animal  life,  whether 
for  pleasure,  profit,  or  sustenance,  since 
every  creature  that  exists  has  a  right  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness. 

We  are  not  prepared  to  controvert 
this  axiom,  but  until  the  world  reaches 
a  point  where  it  can  be  carried  out  as  a 
working  theory,  we  may  assure  ourselves 
that  we  are  at  least  doing  no  harm  when 
we  give  our  children  pets  whose  ances- 
87 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

tors  as  well  as  themselves  have  been  born 
in  captivity. 

A  comparatively  harmless  way  for 
children  to  keep  one  kind  of  pets  in  dur- 
ance is  to  allow  them  to  make  and  stock 
an  aquarium.  If  they  are  old  enough  to 
use  tools,  detailed  plans  for  making  one 
of  wood  and  glass  may  be  found  in  Jack- 
man's  "Nature  Study";  if  a  small,  simple 
aquarium  will  serve  the  purpose,  a  glass 
candy  jar  or  butter  jar  will  do,  though 
it  must  have  a  wide  mouth  so  as  to  give 
the  animals  sufficient  air.  The  great 
thing  to  remember  in  establishing  one 
of  these  water  homes  is  that  there  must 
be  a  certain  balance  between  plant  and 
animal  life,  for  each  needs  the  other  if  we 
would  have  them  grow  and  thrive.  There 
must  be  two  inches  or  so  of  clean,  well- 
washed  sand  on  the  bottom  of  the  glass 
jar,  box,  or  globe,  a  few  stones  or  peb- 
bles to  make  it  look  more  natural,  and 
then  water  plants  should  be  set  out  and 
88 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

weighted  a  little  to  keep  them  in  place. 
Eel-grass,  water-cress,  parrot's  feather, 
duck-weed,  are  all  suitable,  or  almost 
any  plant  which  grows  in  or  on  the  mar- 
gin of  a  pond. }.  The  water,  preferably 
rain  water,  or  brought  from  a  clean  pond, 
must  be  poured  in  slowly  and  with  great 
care  and  is  not  to  be  changed,  except  in 
case  of  accident,  but  only  replenished 
occasionally  to  supply  evaporation.  A 
north  window  is  best  for  an  aquarium, 
which  needs  light  but  little  sunshine, 
and  must  not  be  kept  too  warm.  A  few 
snails  and  tadpoles  to  consume  the  de- 
caying vegetation  are  very  useful,  and 
when  their  new  home  is  set  in  its  place, 
from  which,  by  the  way,  it  should  sel- 
dom be  moved,  and  the  water  has  been 
allowed  two  or  three  days  to  clear  and 
to  become  thoroughly  aerated,  the  fish 
may  be  invited  to  move  in.  It  is  best  to 
begin  with  goldfish,  as  they  are  hardy, 
and  add  afterwards  small  minnows., 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

dace,  and  a  few  water  insects,  as  the 
boat-fly  and  the  margined  beetle.  All 
these  the  children  can  collect  with  a  net 
or  a  long-handled  dipper,  but  they  must 
not  be  too  ardent  collectors  and  thus 
overstock  the  aquarium. 

Prepared  fish-food,  cracker  crumbs, 
and,  once  or  twice  a  week,  the  least  pos- 
sible quantity  of  scraped  beef  may  be 
fed  to  the  scaly  pets,  though  the  child  will 
be  much  more  likely  to  overfeed  than  to 
scant  them  and  will  need  guidance  on 
this  point,  as  well  as  in  removing  parti- 
cles of  food  that  have  not  been  consumed. 

Those  who  cannot  tolerate  the  idea 
of  a  caged  bird  in  the  house  would,  of 
course,  have  no  objection  to  allowing 
their  children  to  keep  pigeons,  and  no 
one  could  disapprove  of  feeding  and  tam- 
ing the  wild  birds. 

Great  numbers  of  fledglings  are  some- 
what too  precipitate  every  year  in  leav- 
ing their  nests  and  tumble  down  into  the 
90 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

world  before  their  wings  are  strong 
enough  to  escape  if  a  cat  espies  them. 
Our  "  little  brothers  of  the  world  "  should 
be  taught  to  look  out  for  such  cases  and 
to  protect  and  feed  the  weaklings  until 
they  are  self-supporting.  Many  birds 
would  stay  with  us  much  longer,  perhaps 
even  through  the  entire  year,  if  they  were 
fed  during  the  winter  and  if  shelters  and 
houses  were  provided  for  them.  There 
would  be  little  complaint  of  stolen  eggs 
and  nests  and  stoned  birds,  if  children 
were  taught  to  regard  the  lovely  feath- 
ered creatures  as  their  special  pets  and 
charges,  dependent  upon  them  for  care 
and  shelter. 

The  subject  of  modeling  in  clay  has 
not  been  touched  upon  as  yet,  and  this 
well  deserves  a  chapter  by  itself.  If  any 
clay  fit  for  moulding  be  accessible, — 
that  from  which  drain-pipes  are  made 
will  do  very  well,  —  a  quantity  of  it 
may  be  mixed  in  an  old  pail  or  tub,  to 
91 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

about  the  consistency  of  dough,  and,  if 
kept  covered  with  a  wet  cloth  and  oc- 
casionally stirred  about,  will  keep  inde- 
finitely. If  a  low  table  be  covered  with 
oilcloth  for  the  work  and  an  apron  be 
put  on,  neither  room  nor  clothing  will 
suffer  from  the  clay,  which  indeed  quickly 
dries  into  a  powder  and  can  be  brushed 
away.  If  the  child  is  to  model  by  mo- 
ther's side,  the  clay  may  be  given  in  a 
tray,  and  the  veriest  baby  will  long  be 
quiet  if  he  is  shown  how  to  roll  balls  or 
eggs  or  marbles  from  the  plastic  sub- 
stance. Older  children  may  model  nuts, 
fruits,  animals,  furniture,  dishes,  or  can 
make  plaques  of  different  shapes  and 
sizes  on  which  leaves  may  be  impressed, 
while  blocks  or  rings  or  disks  may  be 
stamped  in  as  borders.  A  good  piece  of 
work  may  be  fired  in  a  slow  oven,  and 
the  plaques  or  marbles  or  balls  may  sub- 
sequently be  painted  according  to  fancy. 
If  clay  is  not  to  be  had,  Plasticine,  an 
92 


INDOOR  WORK  AND  PLAY 

inexpensive  modeling  substance  made  in 
four  colors,  may  be  procured  at  any  kin- 
dergarten supply  store. 

Last  to  be  mentioned,  but  perhaps 
rst  in  its  ever-fresh  delight,  is  play  in 
e  sand,  which  is  as  practical  in  a  small 
y  indoors,  as  out.  In  a  small  playroom 
large  sand-box  is  impossible,  but  an 
rrangement  may  be  made  by  using  a 
zinc  trough  set  in  a  light  box,  after  the 
fashion  of  a  window-box  for  flowers,  and 
fastened  to  a  small  table,  before  which  a 
child  will  sit  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  filling 
and  refilling  various  little  shapes,  small 
flower-pots,  "patty-pans,"  and  the  like, 
and  turning  them  out  on  the  board  of  a 
high  chair. 

If  there  is  sufficient  space  every  play- 
room should  be  provided  with  a  kinder- 
garten sand-table,  which  is  merely  a 
water-tight  box  painted  and  varnished 
inside,  five  feet  long,  four  wide,  and  a 
foot  deep,  perhaps,  set  on  legs,  and  filled 
93 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

with  sand.  This  is  large  enough  for  five 
or  six  children  to  gather  around  and  learn 
to  work  in  common,  and  may  be  pro- 
vided with  a  smooth  wooden  cover  an< 
serve  as  a  table  when  necessary.  Aft( 
going  through  the  early  plays,  such 
covering  and  uncovering  the  han< 
which  naturally  occur  to  the  childrei 
give  them  sticks,  as  rulers  and  butter- 
paddles,  to  flatten  and  divide  with,  and 
tiny  gardening-tools  to  lay  out  beds  and 
flower-gardens.  Miniature  trees,  shrubs, 
and  flowers  may  be  set  out  in  these  gar- 
dens, and  the  paths  made  of  pebbles,  the 
fences  of  sticks  and  slats.  At  another 
time  leaves,  twigs,  tiles,  and  blocks  may 
be  impressed  upon  the  smoothed  sur- 
face in  designs  and  borders,  and  finally, 
whole  scenes  in  town  and  country  life 
may  be  depicted  and  many  of  the  other 
play-materials  be  brought  in  for  illus- 
tration. 


IV 

STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

No  mother,  however  remote  from 
metropolitan  advantages  she  may  be, 
but  can  sing  with  her  children,  and  Froe- 
bel,  who  believed  that  the  plays  of  the 
infant  are  preparations  for  the  experi- 
ences of  maturity,  would  have  the  mo- 
ther sing  to  her  child  from  the  beginning. 
Although  the  baby  is  yet,  or  seems  to  be, 
unconscious,  says  the  great  teacher,  his 
ear  is  open,  and  as  he  grows  older  the 
singer  must  continue  the  practice  until 
the  child  can  join  his  voice  to  hers. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  games 
Froebel  outlines  in  the  "Mother  Play" 
is  "The  Finger  Piano."  The  fingers  of 
the  mother's  left  hand,  and  later  on  the 
child's,  are  held  horizontally  to  represent 
the  ivory  keys  and  are  slightly  bent  at 
95 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

the  middle  joint  to  give  a  certain  elas- 
ticity. The  right  hand  then  plays  upon 
them,  pressing  them  down  in  turn,  and 
the  melodies,  simple  combinations  of 
the  five  notes,  are  accompanied  with 
equally  simple  words :  — 

"Listen,  baby  dear, 
The  lovely  music  hear; 
Little  fingers  downward  go  — 
Hark!  the  answer,  sweet  and  low: 
La-la-la,"  etc. 

Froebel  adds  in  the  motto  for  the 
mother,  as  an  explanation  of  the  child's 
joy  in  the  game:  — 

"For  a  something  in  his  heart 
Answers  to  your  simple  art; 
And  like  silent  bells  set  ringing,"1 
Makes  the  little  song  you're  singing 
Seem  of  him  a  part." 

This  is  the  great  educator's  invariable 
desire,  to  trace  the  connection  between 
outward  manifestation  and  inward  feel- 
ing, and  he  would  have  all  music  an  ex- 
pression of  the  harmony  within  the  soul. 

' 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the 
baby's  ear  can  be  trained  from  the  be- 
ginning by  listening  to  the  mother's  song, 
and  this  cultivation,  as  indicated  in  the 
words  of  "The  Finger  Piano,"  may  be 
extended  by  hearkening  to  the  sounds  of 
the  outside  world.  The  mother  has  this 
idea  unconsciously  in  mind  when  she  bids 
the  child  listen  to  the  duck  or  the  dog  or 
the  bird,  and  asks  him  what  each  one 
says ;  when  she  calls  his  attention  to  the 
puff  of  engines,  the  churning  of  paddle- 
wheels,  and  the  throb  of  machinery.  If 
she  would  extend  these  listening  exercises 
to  all  the  sounds  about  the  child,  leading 
him,  as  a  daily  play,  to  tell  her  how  many 
different  noises  he  can  hear  around  him 
and  what  they  are,  she  would  be  giv- 
ing him  that  "concrete  tone  experience 
which  should  precede  general  musical 
training."  As  a  writer  on  kindergarten 
music  has  lately  said,  "  The  child  to 
whom  everything  *  sings,'  from  the  whirr 

97 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

of  the  passing  street-car  to  the  crackling 
flames,  will  never  need  to  have  the  mys- 
teries of  musical  interpretation  explained 
to  him." 

The  so-called  unmusical  person  is  not 
such  because  of  any  fundamental  lack 
of  power  or  deficiency  in  the  tone  area, 
but,  commonly,  because  he  has  never 
been  led  to  take  any  interest  in  musi- 
cal sounds,  has  never  been  surrounded 
with  a  musical  atmosphere.  Every  child 
loves  to  sing,  and  even  if  his  ear  for  mu- 
sic be  quite  undeveloped,  will  cheerfully 
growl  along  on  a  monotone,  if  not  un- 
duly criticised,  until  some  day  the  tone 
world  begins  to  open  to  him.  We  who 
have  been  much  with  little  ones  in  the 
kindergarten  know  that  tone-deafness  is 
by  no  means  incurable  if  only  remedies 
be  early  applied;  and  if  we  would  not 
have  our  children  "  fit  for  treasons, 
stratagems,  and  spoils,  the  motions  of 
their  spirits  dull  as  night,"  we  should 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

give  them  musical  training  from  the 
very  beginning  of  life. 

When  the  baby  is  old  enough  to  be- 
gin singing  himself,  all  Froebel's  finger- 
songs  ("The  Weather  Cock,"  "Pat-a- 
Cake,"  "Tick-Tack,"  "Thumb-a-Plum," 
"The  Family,"  "The  Pigeon  House," 
etc.)  enter  appropriately,  and  there  are 
many  similar  treasures  to  be  drawn  upon, 
not  only  in  the  "Mother  Play"  but  in 
modern  collections  based  on  the  kinder- 
garten ideas. 

These  form  an  introduction  to  the  art 
of  singing,  and  by  and  by,  if  the  train- 
ing is  continued,  we  shall  have  little 
choristers  who  can  sing  really  well  and 
with  sympathy  and  understanding.  We 
shall  find  examples  of  those  songs  which 
Goethe  advised  to  cadence  the  soul,  — 
songs  of  home,  nature,  religion,  and  love, 
-in  all  the  kindergarten  music-books, 
and  though  all  are  not  of  equal  value,  all 
show  a  certain  understanding  of  child- 
99 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

nature  and  are  reasonably  sure  to  please 
the  little  people  for  whom  they  are  writ- 
ten. 

We  must  remember,  however,  in  our 
vocal  work  that  children  cannot  sing  too 
long  at  one  time  without  injury  to  the 
voice,  five  minutes  being  as  much  as  is 
safe,  according  to  some  particularly  cau- 
tious authorities.  We  must  insist  also 
upon  the  use  of  a  soft  tone  in  singing, 
since  "it  is  the  flower  of  the  voice  and 
not  its  weeds"  which  is  to  be  developed. 
A  high  voice,  too,  is  to  be  encouraged, 
because  the  root  of  vocal  trouble  in  child- 
ren is  generally  considered  to  come  from 
over-use  of  the  lower  notes. 
'  The  songs  we  select  for  our  juvenile 
choir  must  have  a  suitable  compass,  for 
injury  to  the  voice  is  inflicted  by  the 
effort  to  sing  notes  which  are  too  high 
or  too  low.  D  below  the  treble  staff  to 
the  D  an  octave  above  is  always  a  safe 
compass,  though,  of  course,  there  are 
100 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

some  children  who  can  easily  take  notes 
higher  and  lower  than  these. 

And  then  as  to  the  melodies,  which,  as 
a  general  thing,  should  be  complete  in 
themselves,  that  is,  not  dependent  on 
an  accompaniment,  though  possibly  im- 
proved by  it.  It  is  obvious,  too,  that 
they  should  not  contain  difficult'intervals, 
passages  requiring  careful  phrasing,  nor 
many  accidentals;  and  if  it  is  objected 
that  it  is  not  easy  to  write  a  melody  when 
excursions  into  these  flowery  paths  are 
forbidden,  we  can  only  answer  that  music 
can  be  made  on  one  string  of  a  violin  if  a 
master  hold  the  instrument. 

As  to  the  words,  they  should  be  sweet, 
which  does  not  mean,  as  some  song- 
writers for  children  seem  to  suppose, 
that  they  should  be  merely  silly  jingles. 
Mother  Goose  songs,  however,  are  not  to 
be  understood  as  deserving  this  descrip- 
tion, for  they  are  classics  and  well  worth 
singing  in  the  nursery.  No  matter  how 
101 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

simple  the  words  may  be,  — and,  by  the 
way,  they  should  not  only  be  sweet  and 
childlike,  but  easy  to  sing,  —  they  must 
be  taught  carefully  and  filled  in  with 
all  necessary  explanations.  We  can 
never  have  true,  heartfelt  singing  if  our 
pupils  are  pouring  forth  unmeaning 
syllables,  if  they  are  warbling  patriot- 
ically, as  did  not  long  ago  the  children 
of  a  certain  public  school,  — 

"I  love  thy  rots  and  chills, 
Thy  woods  and  temper  pills, 
My  heart  with  ratcher  thrills,"  etc.,  etc. 

Songs  which  are  too  difficult  for  little 
people  to  sing  are,  fortunately,  by  no 
means  too  difficult  for  them  to  hear,  and 
this  branch  of  their  musical  education  is 
not  to  be  neglected.  They  thoroughly 
enjoy  instrumental  music,  also,  if  suffi- 
ciently "tunable"  and  not  too  compli- 
cated ;  and  as  we  look  up  from  the  piano 
at  the  eager  listeners  beside  us  we  think 
involuntarily  of  those  "young-eyed  cher- 
102 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND    SONGS 

ubim"  to  whom  the  heavenly  orbs  still 
quire  as  they  move. 

The  mother  who  can  afford  to  buy  a 
few  of  the  music-books  used  in  the  kin- 
dergartens will  find  in  them  countless 
suggestions  for  games  as  well  as  songs. 
There  are  the  finger-plays  already  men- 
tioned, all  kinds  of  games  with  a  ball, 
sense  games,  guessing  games  (so-called), 
and  a  host  of  charming  ring-plays  repre- 
senting the  trades  and  occupations  of 
man  and  the  life  and  movements  of  ani- 
mals. Froebel  believed  in  the  exercise 
and  development  of  the  child's  senses 
from  the  beginning  of  life,  contending 
that  we  only  half  use  the  powers  at  our 
command  because  they  are  dulled  and 
blunted  from  lack  of  training.  All 
kindergarten  music-books  contain  a  va- 
riety of  little  games  intended  to  culti- 
vate the  senses  of  smell,  taste,  touch, 
sight,  and  hearing,  and  if  the  mother  can 
neither  sing  nor  play  the  music  to  which 
103 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

they  are  set  she  can  at  least  teach  the 
children  the  words  that  accompany  them. 
Children  would  naturally  play  with 
balls  without  suggestion,  but  there  are 
numberless  schemes  for  systematized 
games  with  them  in  the  kindergarten 
music-books,  and  all  are  accompanied  by 
attractive  airs,  and  simple  words  which 
refine  the  play  and  guard  it  against 
rudeness  and  disorder.  On  gala  after- 
noons in  the  playroom,  when  older  peo- 
ple have  time  to  be  present,  there  are 
many  other  games  in  which  children  de- 
light and  which  are  an  education  in 
themselves,  such  as  "Russian  Scandal," 
"What  is  my  Thought  Like?"  "Twen- 
ty Questions,"  "Genteel  Lady,"  and 
"Dumb  Crambo."  Tableaux,  either  lit- 
erary, historical,  or  poses  after  famous 
pictures,  are  eagerly  taken  up  by  child- 
ren, and  so  are  charades,  pantomimes, 
dramatizations  of  historical  episodes  or 
of  favorite  stories. 

104 


STORIES,   GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

And  here,  as  a  closing  thought  in  this 
little  book  of  suggestions  to  lonely  mo- 
thers, to  women  as  isolated  as  Robin- 
son Crusoe's  wife  would  have  been,  had 
he  been  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  one, 
comes  the  subject  of  story-telling. 

In  Bjornson's  charming  narrative, 
"A  Happy  Boy,"  little  Oyvind  longs 
to  know  what  everything  is  saying  in  the 
world  about  him.  What  do  the  leaves 
say  as  they  rustle,  he  asks,  what  the 
brook  as  it  ripples  along,  what  the  birds 
as  they  carol,  what  the  clouds  as  they 
float,  and  the  winds  as  they  blow? 

Then  his  mother  sits  down  by  his  side 
and  with  her  rhymes  and  stories  inter- 
prets to  him  the  speech  of  all  things, 
down  to  the  ant  that  crawls  in  the  moss 
and  the  worm  that  works  in  the  bark, 
and  happy  little  Oyvind  looks  at  them 
all  and  feels  that  he  has  never  really 
seen  them  before. 

This  is  the  recital  of  no  unusual  ex- 
105 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

perience,  for  Oyvind's  longing  comes 
to  every  child,  though  every  woman, 
alas !  is  not  so  well  fitted  to  satisfy  them 
as  the  sweet  Norwegian  mother  of  the 
tale.  The  little  one  comes  to  a  world 
where  everything  is  strange  and  new, 
and  if  no  one  serves  as  interpreter  for  all 
its  wonders  his  ceaseless  questioning  is 
crushed  back  upon  itself  and  finally  dies 
away,  leaving  a  dull,  vacuous,  unimagin- 
ative mind  behind  it. 

Among  the  exceptional  educational 
advantages  which  Goethe  enjoyed,  a 
great  critic  ranks  as  most  fruitful  his 
mother's  genius  for  story-telling;  and 
those  of  us  who  have  seen  the  passionate 
response  of  the  vigorous  child  mind  to 
the  appropriate  tale  or  recital  will  agree 
in  the  opinion. 

The  child's  introduction  to  literature 

is  really  given  far  back  in  his  baby  days, 

with  his  mother's  song  as  she  cradled 

him  in  her  arms.  Neither  the  words  nor 

106 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

the  ideas  that  they  convey  then  appeal 
to  him,  of  course,  but  the  poetic  form, 
or  rather  the  rhythm,  the  recurrence  of 
measured  accent.  Emerson  says,  "Mu- 
sic and  rhyme  are  among  the  earliest 
pleasures  of  the  child,  and  in  the  history 
of  literature  poetry  precedes  prose; "  and 
though  the  majority  of  women  have 
never  either  formulated  the  saying  for 
themselves  or  read  the  printed  words, 
yet  they  have  taken  advantage  of  the 
fact,  serenely  working  by  the  light  of 
their  intuitions.  To  the  peculiar  power 
of  poetry,  the  soothing,  almost  mesmeric 
charm  of  its  pulsation,  of  its  rhythmic 
flow,  the  child  is  very  sensitive,  and  little 
ones  who  are  mentally  deficient  may 
sometimes  be  reached  by  the  music  of 
verse  when  nothing  else  avails  to  enchain 
their  wandering  attention.  All  the  spells 
in  the  old  fairy  tales,  you  remember,  are 
cast  in  poetic  form,  and  without  the  aid 
of  rhythm,  metre,  rhyme,  and  allitera- 
107 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

tion,  we  feel  instinctively  that  the  en- 
chanted frog  could  never  assume  his 
rightful  shape,  nor  the  white  doe  come 
at  the  call  of  the  distressed  princess. 

So  when  we  croon  nursery  songs  and 
Mother  Goose  verses  to  our  babies,  and 
when  we  recite  to  them  simple  rhymes 
and  jingles,  we  do  well,  and  we  only 
do  ill  when  as  they  grow  older  and  are 
fitted  for  higher  poetic  enjoyment  we 
make  no  effort  to  furnish  it.  There  are 
not  many  collections  of  poetry  for  child- 
ren, not  many,  that  is,  that  are  really 
appropriate  and  essentially  childlike,  but 
a  large  stock  of  verses  is  not  necessary, 
and  some  of  the  best  poets  on  your 
library  shelves  would  gladly  show  you, 
if  you  would  entreat  them,  that  even 
they  have  not  disdained  to  sing  to  the 
little  ones  now  and  then. 

The  earliest  literature  given  to  child- 
ren, whether  poetry  or  prose,  should  be 
told  in  story  form  and  never  read.  The 
108 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

child  desires  to  look  as  he  listens  in  order 
that  he  may  understand,  and  the  printed 
page  seems  to  interpose  a  barrier  to  the 
gratification  of  that  desire.  Dr.  Stanley 
Hall,  in  his  pamphlet  on  "The  Early 
Sense  of  Self,"  notes  this  characteristic 
of  childhood,  saying,  "The  eye  seems  to 
be  one  of  the  very  first  media  along  with 
touch  through  which  the  child  comes  into 
rapport  with  the  parent:  even  older  child- 
ren always  gaze  at  the  eye  rather  than 
the  mouth  of  others  and  take  at  first  far 
more  meaning  from  it  than  they  gather 
from  words." 

But  this  art  of  story-telling  is  by  no 
means  an  easy  one  to  acquire  unless  one 
be  a  natural  raconteur,  for,  as  Froebel 
says,  "the  story-teller  must  take  life 
into  himself  in  its  wholeness,  must  let  it 
live  and  work  whole  and  free  within  him. 
He  must  give  it  out  free  and  unabbrevi- 
ated, and  yet  stand  above  the  life  which 
actually  is."  Therefore,  he  goes  on  to 
109 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

say,  the  man  who  is  engrossed  with  the 
affairs  of  the  world  is  commonly  unable 
to  throw  himself  into  the  exercise  and 
make  it  successful;  it  is  the  mother  who 
lives  only  in  and  with  her  child,  knowing 
no  care  but  that  of  fostering  his  exist- 
ence, who  best  can  please  him,  or  the 
brother  and  sister  a  little  older,  or  the 
grandparents,  who  look  on  life  from  a 
higher  standpoint,  still  stirred  by  its 
movement  and  yet  above  the  rush  of  the 
flood. 

The  value  of  story-telling  is  appreci- 
ated in  the  kindergarten,  and  in  kinder- 
garten training-schools  a  definite  effort  is 
made  to  teach  the  art;  an  effort  which  at 
least  results  in  giving  to  the  pupil  a  clear 
appreciation  of  its  importance  as  an  in- 
troduction to  literature,  of  its  bearing 
upon  the  development  of  imagination, 
of  its  service  in  ethical  teaching,  of  its 
uses  as  a  means  of  vocal  training  and 
of  training  in  language,  and  of  its  worth 
no 


STORIES,   GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

incidentally   as    a   vehicle   of   inform- 
ation. 

When  we  consider  the  various  ends 
which  story-telling  may  be  made  to  serve, 
we  appreciate  that  it  is  one  of  the  most 
potent  influences  which  affect  the  child 
during  his  early  years,  and  that  therefore 
it  behooves  us  to  select  wisely  the  liter- 
ary material  which  we  provide  for  him. 
Most  little  children  are  interested  in  fairy 
stories,  and  in  spite  of  the  battles  con- 
tinually waged  against  them,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  simple,  healthy  interest 
will  continue,  for  they  undoubtedly  sat- 
isfy a  want  in  the  youthful  mind  which 
no  other  form  of  narrative  can  supply. 
The  age-old  fairy  tales,  with  the  myths 
from  which  they  developed,  are  appro- 
priate to  childhood,  because  they  took 
their  rise  in  a  childlike,  fanciful  period 
of  the  world.  They  see  things  and  relate 
them  in  a  youthful  way,  concern  them- 
selves with  matters  which  are  of  surpass- 
iii 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

ing  moment  to  any  right-minded  infant, 
and  trip  gayly  with  a  wave  of  the  hand 
over  such  dull  affairs  as  science,  politics, 
war,  death,  and  religion. 

Not  only  myths  and  fairy  tales,  but 
fables  also,  have  their  use  in  early  men- 
tal training,  though  here  we  must  avoid 
those  which  are  too  highly  flavored  with 
Orientalism,  and  teach,  as  Dr.  Felix 
Adler  says,  "servility,  subservience,  and 
cunning." 

And  when  the  children  have  outgrown 
babyhood,  there  are  the  wonder-tales 
of  science  waiting  to  be  told,  and  each 
one  of  them,  if  given  aright,  will  waken 
in  the  little  one  a  tender  reverence  for 
everything  that  lives  and  grows  about 
him  and  a  worship  for  the  wise  God  who 
has  made  and  loves  them  all.  Every  sea- 
son simple,  scientific  books  are  published 
which  are  veritable  mines  of  stories,  but 
if  one  wishes  a  series  already  prepared 
he  can  find  nothing  better  for  the  pur- 

112 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

pose  than  "Mother  Nature's  Children," 
"Mother  Nature's  Rules,"  and  "Mother 
Nature's  Lessons."  l 

Stories  from  history  must  not  be  for- 
gotten when  the  children  are  older  and 
can  begin  to  appreciate  with  some  degree 
of  intelligence  the  relation  of  the  event 
to  others  which  have  preceded  and  fol- 
lowed it;  and  here  enters  our  opportu- 
nity for  hero-tales,  which  young  people 
of  a  certain  age,  and  especially  boys,  so 
unceasingly  demand.  It  is  the  God-given 
hunger  for  an  ideal  that  is  gnawing  at 
their  hearts,  and  let  us  beware  how  we 
satisfy  it  with  anything  less  than  the 
highest  within  our  reach. 

There  is  a  wide  range  of  subjects  from 
which  the  story-teller  may  make  his 
repertory,  —  myths,  fairy  tales,  fables, 
science  stories,  and  incidents  from  his- 
tory,—  but  he  must  add  to  it  a  goodly 
store  of  verse,  and  he  may  not  neglect 
1  By  Allen  Walton  Gould.  , 
"3 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

anecdotes  of  animals,  narratives  of  other 
children,  and  those  personal  experiences, 
beginning  with  "When  I  was  a  little  girl," 
or  "a  little  boy,"  as  the  case  may  be, 
which  never  fail  to  draw  the  hearer  from 
his  play  and  bring  him,  wide-eyed  with 
interest,  to  listen. 

We  need  not  confine  ourselves  in  tell- 
ing stories  to  children  nor  in  reading  them 
either,  when  that  time  comes,  to  those 
which  they  altogether  understand.  It  is 
better  to  be  above  their  level  than  below 
it,  and  to  meet  now  and  then  with  a  half- 
understood  word  or  idea  in  a  tale  is  but 
to  pique  the  fancy  with  hints  of  further 
beauty  out  of  sight.  An  English  critic, 
in  writing  upon  the  values  of  the  reading 
habit,  says:  "It  is  rare  for  boys  to  go  to 
school  possessing  anything  that  can  be 
really  called  knowledge,  but  those  who 
do  have  it  invariably  obtained  it  by 
miscellaneous  reading  in  books  which 
they  only  half  comprehended." 
114 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

It  is  possible,  too,  that  we  make  a  mis- 
take in  restricting  ourselves  in  our  story- 
telling too  exclusively  to  glad  tales, 
tales  of  laughter  and  sunshine.  These 
are  undoubtedly  proper  for  the  babies, 
whose  sensibilities  are  far  too  delicate  to 
be  trifled  with;  but  to  touch  an  older 
child  sometimes  to  strongest  compas- 
sion and  sympathy,  even  to  tears,  is  not 
without  its  value,  and  is  positively  bene- 
ficial occasionally  to  a  dull  or  unimagi- 
native little  person.  Tears  that  fall  upon 
the  heart  are  sometimes  cooling  and  re- 
freshing. It  is  with  them  as  with  the 
drops  of  rain  that  E.  R.  Sill  sings  of  in 
"An  Ancient  Error"  — 

"Taste  the  sweet  drops,  —  no  tang  of  brine; 

Feel  them,  —  they  do  not  burn 

The  daisy-buds,  whereon  they  shine, 

Laugh,  and  to  blossoms  turn." 

In  telling  such  stories,  however,  it 
need  hardly  be  said  that  we  should  be 
most  delicate  in  selection,  touching  upon 
"5 


THE  HOME-MADE  KINDERGARTEN 

no  subject  inappropriate  to  childhood 
and  never  leaving  the  hero  in  a  hopeless 
position  at  the  end.  It  is  essential  that 
a  story  for  little  children  should  "turn 
out  well,"  as  the  saying  is;  for  to  leave 
the  hearers  in  misery  as  to  the  fate  of 
one  whom  they  have  learned  to  love  is 
to  trouble  sleep  and  to  tamper  with  the 
working  of  delicate  brains. 

It  has  been  already  suggested  that  the 
telling  of  stories  has  an  ethical  bearing, 
and  that  it  has  to  do  with  life.  Not  only 
by  giving  a  taste  for  good  literature  in 
youth  do  we  provide  the  child  with  one 
of  the  greatest  sources  of  pleasure  and 
profit  in  maturity  and  secure  him  against 
the  thousand  ills  which  come  from  the 
reading  of  evil  books,  but  we  open  the 
way  for  the  working  of  that  main  func- 
tion of  literature,  which  is  "to  develop 
in  the  people  right  tastes,  right  admir- 
ations, right  appreciations,  and  right 
aspirations." 

116 


STORIES,  GAMES,  AND  SONGS 

These  few  chapters  of  this  little  book 
contain  but  a  handful  only  of  the  many 
hints  which  might  be  given  for  children's 
work  and  play  in  the  home,  and  all  of 
them,  although  not  distinctly  belonging 
to  the  kindergarten,  are  yet  based  on 
kindergarten  principles.  Though  by  no 
means  exhaustive,  they  have  been  writ- 
ten with  the  object  of  furnishing  whole- 
some and  delightful  occupation  for  the 
child,  occupation  which  he  can  carry  on 
largely  by  himself,  except  in  the  earlier 
stages,  and  which  will  lead  in  some  meas- 
ure to  his  development  as  a  reasonable 
human  being,  able  to  work  in  coopera- 
tion with  his  fellows  and  to  take  his  place 
as  a  factor  in  the  world's  progress. 

THE    END 


Mbatffec 

CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .   S    .   A 


CHILDREN'S  RIGHTS  AND 
THE  STORY  HOUR 

By  KATE  DOUGLAS  WIGGIN 
and  NORA  ARCHIBALD  SMITH 

"  Out  of  a  rich  experience  they  have  given  us  books 
which  it  is  a  delight  to  commend.  They  will  be  use- 
ful to  the  working  kindergartner,  to  the  teacher  who 
will  presently  be  engaged  with  the  problem  of  adjust- 
ing the  kindergarten  to  the  primary  school,  to  intel- 
ligent parents  who  want  to  know  the  meaning  of  the 
kindergarten  movement ;  to  all  who,  being  engaged 
in  the  training  of  children,  would  fain  plant  into 
their  deep  infinite  faculties  —  for  eternity  and  not  for 
a  day." 

Child  Study  Monthly,  Chicago. 

"When  we  get  parents  to  read  and  ponder  such 
books  as  these,  the  development  of  the  human  race 
will  be  measurably  accelerated." 

Education. 

Each,  i6mo,  $1.00. 


HOUGHTON  /^£[  BOSTON 

MIFFLIN  JO?W  AND 

COMPANY  TO  ra  NEW  YORK 


THE  REPUBLIC  OF  CHILDHOOD 

By  KATE  DOUGLAS  WIGGIN 
and  NORA  ARCHIBALD  SMITH 

I  Froebel's  Gifts. 
II  Froebel's  Occupations. 
Ill  Kindergarten  Principles  and  Practice. 

"  The  writings  of  Mrs.  Wiggin  and  Miss  Smith  hold  a 
unique  place  in  the  kindergarten  movement, —  one  that 
is  not  second  to  any  in  the  whole  range  of  Froebel  lit- 
erature." 

W.  T.  Harris,  U.  S,  Commissioner  of  Education. 

"  Mrs.  Wiggin  has  rare  insight  into  child  natures,  and 
a  divine  sympathy  for  them  that  seldom  leads  her 
judgment  astray.  With  able  and  eager  words  this  witty 
writer  pleads  her  cause,  and  would  win  us  to  her  charm- 
ing turn  of  speech  and  graceful  phrases  even  were  it 
not  for  the  soundness  of  her  nursery  logic." 

Boston  Transcript. 

"All  kindergartners,  teachers,  nurses,  and  mothers 
should  possess  them." 

Boston  Herald. 


3  volumes,  each,  i6mo,  $1.00. 


HOUGHTON  A§5?«  BOSTON 

MIFFUN  jtSW  AND 

COMPANY  &!«  NEW  YORK 


AN  ^INITIAL  FINE  OP  25  CENTS 

FFAI 


INCRSAS. 


MAR30    1938 


LD  21-1007n-8/34 


YB  04981 


241221 


r 


